Almost Lovers
by The Devil Wears Westwood
Summary: Maxon's heart had belonged to America Singer from the moment he saw her. It was shattered in the instant he saw her hand on the guard's chest, as he finally knew the truth. The Rebel attack didn't happen until he had already proposed. Will America ever be able to win back her Prince? Or will he continue with his plans to marry Kriss? Maxon/America Maxon/Kriss Aspen/Lucy
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Kbobcora approached me with the idea of what would have happened if Maxon had been able to propose to Kriss before the Southern Rebels attacked. Would he still find a way to be with America? Or would he learn to love Kriss more? How would America even be able to win over an engaged man? This is that story.**

And the first part of this chapter belongs to Kiera Cass. :)

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The Great Room was packed. For once, instead of the king and queen being the focal point of the room, it was Maxon. On a slightly raised platform, Maxon, Kriss, and I sat at an ornate table. I felt as if our positioning was deceitful. I was on Maxon's right. I always thought being on someone's right was a good thing, an honored position. But so far he'd spent the entire time speaking to Kriss. As if I didn't already know what was coming.

I tried to seem happy as I looked around the room. It was packed. Gavril, of course, was in a corner, speaking into a camera, narrating the events as they happened.

Ashley smiled and waved, and beside her Anna winked at me. I gave them a nod, still too nervous to speak. Toward the back of the room, in deceptively clean clothes, August, Georgia, and some of the other

Northern rebels sat at a table by themselves. Of course Maxon would want them here to meet his new wife. Little did he know she was one of their own.

They surveyed the room tensely, as if they feared any second a guard would recognize them and attack.

The guards didn't seem to be paying attention though. In fact, this was the first time I'd ever seen them look so poorly focused, eyes meandering around the room, several of them on edge. I'd even noticed that one or two hadn't shaved and looked a little rough. It was a big event though. Maybe they were just rushed.

My eyes flitted over to Queen Amberly, speaking with her sister Adele and her gaggle of children. She looked radiant. She'd been waiting for this day for so long. She would love Kriss like her own. For a moment, I was so jealous of that fact.

I turned and scanned the faces of the Selected again, and this time my eyes landed on Celeste. I could see the clear question in her eyes: 'What are you so worried about? I gave her a minuscule shake of my head, letting her know that I'd lost. She sent me a thin smile and mouthed the words It'll be okay. I nodded, and I tried to believe her. She turned away, laughing at something someone said; and I final1y looked to my light, taking in the face of the guard stationed closest to our table.

Aspen was distracted though. He was looking around the room like so many of the other men in uniform, but he seemed to be trying to think of something. It was as if he was doing a puzzle in his head. I wished he would look my way, maybe try to explain wordlessly what he was worried about, but he didn't.

"Trying to arrange a time to meet later?" Maxon asked, and I whipped my head back.

"No, of course not."

"It's not like it matters. Kriss's family wil1 be here this afternoon for a small celebration, and yours wil1 be here to take you home. They don't like for the last loser to be alone. She tends to get dramatic."

He was so cold, so distant. It was as if it wasn't even Maxon at all. "You can keep that house if you want. It's been paid for. I'd like my letters back though."

"I read them," I whispered. "I loved them."

He huffed as if it was a joke. "Don't know what I was thinking."

"Please don't do this. Please. I love you." My face was crumpling.

"Don't. You. Dare," Maxon ordered through gritted teeth. "You put on a smile, and you wear it to the last second."

I blinked away the tears and gave a weak smile.

"That'll do. Don't let that slip until you leave the room, do you understand?" I nodded. He looked into my eyes. "I'll be glad when you're gone." After he spat out those last words, his smile returned and he faced Kriss again. I stared into my lap a minute slowing my breathing and putting on a brave face.

**Maxon's POV**

I was glad that America couldn't see how much I wanted to break. How much I still wanted to pull her into my arms and propose to her. But my anger had overcome me that I could hardly stand to see if she would only break my heart again. I had heard Celeste tell me she loved me. It was forced, fueled with giggles and fake smiles as she would say it. I could tell that America meant it. But I couldn't go through this pain again. At every chance I had given her, she had found a way to shatter my heart and break me again. I forced smiles and laughs with Kriss. It took everything I had to continue with this new decision.

The cameras started to roll and focus in on us. _You love Kriss, too, _the voice inside of my head told me. But it was forced and I knew it wasn't quite true. I looked at the guard—Aspen—who was really what America wanted, I told myself. This was like Carter and Marlee all over again. No wonder they had been so close! Were they laughing together behind my back? This idea only fueled more anger inside of me. I was supposed to say good things about the loser. Good things! I didn't want to say anything good about America, I knew where it would lead. The engagement ring inside of my hand was specifically made for her finger and now it would sit on Kriss'. I had to be able to accept that. I had to be able to ignore the woman I truly wanted to be with for someone who actually wanted to be with me.

"Lady America, thank you for being here with us and for allowing me to get to know you," I said through gritted teeth as the camera finally focused in on me. Tears threatened to break through my eyes and it only worsened when I saw the look of confusion on my mother's face and the look of pride on my father's. Of course he would be pleased with this decision. I immediately turned to Kriss and got down on my knee. "Will you marry me?" I tried to say with the upmost happiness. But I could see that she knew it wasn't there.

And the moment the words escaped my mouth, I wished I could pull them back, wanting to rush into America's arms. Wishing the yes was coming from her, not from Kriss. But it was too late for that. I had been taught my entire life of obligations and trust. I had made an obligation to Kriss now and I wasn't sure that I trusted or could ever trust America.

**America's POV**

I felt dizzy and shattered the moment I heard Kriss say yes. She gave me a mocking smile, as if she was finally happy that she was The One instead of me. I looked down at her ring. It was my birthstone! How stupid had I been, not forcing the truth out of my mouth last night as Maxon and I spoke of our future together. If I had shown any restraint at all we wouldn't be in this position right now. Surely, he would have understood that things were long over between Aspen and I. They had been since the day I was almost sent home. I looked over at Celeste, tears pooling in my eyes as the cameras focused on the two of them. Her family clapped and I could tell mine only looked shocked and confused. He was going to have his happy life with someone who wasn't me and now there was nothing I could do to win him back. King Clarkson would certainly make sure of that.

But, in a flash the happy day before Kriss and Maxon turned into something much darker. I saw guards pulling red ties from out of their coat pockets as one slowly slipped behind King Clarkson and another made his way towards Queen Amberly. "Long live the king!" He shouted, and a single shot was fired directly into the back of Clarkson's head.

I watched as people began to scream and run in a daze. A guard had his arm on the queen's shoulder, ready to make her kneel and fire in the back of her head. But something knocked him down first. "RUN!" Aspen shouted, getting up from where he had just fired. I watched as some of the Northern Rebels began to direct people out of the Great Room and towards different places of safety alongside the palace guards. The other rebels pushed themselves out of the room, looking as if they were headed out of the palace. I didn't understand why but my mind quickly shifted to the look of fear on Kriss's face as she clung onto _her_ fiancé. Soon, I felt guards tugging on my arms as they pulled the three of us to safety. Luckily, somehow, we were put in the same room as several others: Celeste, Elise, and several others I couldn't identify. I could tell that Kriss was sobbing into Maxon's arms about how their engagement day had been ruined and how sorry she was for the loss of his father. Of course she would say that, she didn't know about the marks on his back. All of the suffering that Maxon had endured at the hands of his father for the sake of becoming a tougher ruler. For the sake of teaching his son to stop disappointing him.

Somehow, I just fell against Celeste crying silent tears of my own. I don't know how long I cried or how long we were in there. I just appreciated the friendship that had grown between us in the last few months and how grateful I was that she would let me cry into her. She must have been able to see that I truly loved Maxon.

When we were finally let out, I walked back to my room. No one was allowed to leave the palace. Nothing was allowed to continue. We were almost frozen as the remaining Elite, except for the fact that Kriss now had Maxon's ring glued to her finger. My ring. That's all I could think to myself. Did she know that was my birthstone? Had she made that connection yet? I decided it didn't matter as she probably wouldn't care. It was still her that was engaged to Maxon. I tried to ignore the knock on my door but found that I couldn't.

Celeste barged in with a spare key in her hands. She must have been able to bribe one of the guards to give it to her. "Crying won't get you anywhere, America," she scolded me. I wasn't in the mood for her lecture and decided to roll onto the other side of my bed to ignore whatever she had come in here to tell me. Probably something about how being one of the final two would make me so desirable to the rest of the eligible bachelors that I would find myself swarmed with. "He doesn't love her, you could see it." She continued pushing me off the bed from behind. "I can tell when people are lying and he doesn't want to be engaged to her."

"It doesn't matter, he didn't want me," I decided to omit the reason why. At least for now, Celeste didn't need to know. I didn't see what difference it would make anyway.

"You are being pathetic," she chastised me. "This isn't the same fighter five I've known since the beginning. If you were to pull your act together, you could still get him back."

**Maxon's POV**

As soon as we were released from the safe room, I took Kriss to go see her family before going off on my own to see and grieve with my mother. She looked completely heartbroken and it reminded me just how much she had always loved my father. He was laid out, most of his body covered by a sheet. But she still held onto his hand, whispering sweet things and for him to come back to her. I placed my hand on her shoulder, wanting to comfort her. Kriss had tried to comfort me but it didn't help with my mixed emotions. I loved my father but at least now there would never be a day where I had to confront him, fight him off from hurting me, hurting my wife, hurting my children. I closed my eyes and in that moment I knew.

I should've proposed to America.

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Review are appreciated and will help get the next chapter up! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews everyone! Here is the next chapter. I've thrown in some new POV's so let me know what you think about that or whether or not I should just stick to Maxon/America. :)**

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**Kriss's POV**

Maxon had left my side as quickly as he had proposed to me. I took a deep breath, leaning into my mother as she combed through my hair as she would when I was a child. Tears threatened to pool in my eyes from the amount of frustration I found myself filled with. I had been taught not to have a temper—something I had always thought America should learn—because when I would become a teacher, I would have to be patient with the children so that I could help them learn better. I was calm and collected on the inside but there was a fire pushing its way out from the inside. The castle had been deemed unsafe to leave. That meant all of my fellow Elite were still here. _She _was still here. Even in the darkness of the safe room, I had been able to tell that Maxon's eyes were wondering from me in his arms to _her_ at the opposite side. But they were over, he had told me so before we had entered the Great Room together. He told me to trust that he could love me as much as he loved _her _but that he would need to give him time to get over that betrayal. I trusted him. But I didn't trust _her. _The very idea that _she _was still in the palace, within reach of my Maxon, well it boiled inside of me.

"I should go back to my own room, Princess," my mother whispered as she kissed my hair. I smiled to myself as she left the Princess Suite to me. This was my room now. Maxon's princess was my title. That comforted me a little bit. I brushed my finger across my Northern Star necklace and decided that he didn't need to know about this. The Northern Rebels had, clearly, finally earned the trust of the royal family—or at least the King (now my handsome Maxon, God rest King Clarkson's soul)—which meant that I wouldn't be considered a traitor if I was found at anyway. And as Princess, there wasn't anything they wouldn't be telling me that Maxon wouldn't be hearing straight from them.

I let the anger start to slide out of me as I took a deep breath. I had earned this. I wasn't manipulative and cruel like Celeste, I wasn't in it for honor like Elise, and I hadn't lied and cheated like _she _had. I smiled to myself and let out a small laugh of pure joy as I looked at my engagement ring. In a few weeks—or months, I wasn't really sure as there had been no time to talk about wedding details in light of the attacks—I would be Maxon's wife. I wasn't quite sure how things were going to work considering that Queen Amberly was still alive and the country hadn't had a female ruler before. Surely, Maxon would be coordinated shortly and I would become his queen.

I felt truly sorry for their loss though and didn't know how to help my Maxon with the pain he had to be suffering through. He hadn't shed a tear in front of me but I figured that he was just trying to hold it together for his mother. What bravery. What courage. Tomorrow, I would find him and get him to have breakfast just the two of us. Maybe then he would talk to me about what he was feeling. I nodded as I laid back into my bed. I started to drift off into dreams of what our children would like.

**America's POV**

Celeste had joined me on my bed and hadn't stopped plotting away since she allowed me to crawl back up onto it. She looked at the redness and puffiness of my eyes from crying for the last few hours. _Keep it together, America _she kept telling me over and over again. All I could do was listen to what she had to tell me, doubting that it was possible at all. Surely, I told myself, Maxon would want me gone as soon as the ban had been lifted on the palace. I would be the first one to be kicked out and probably wouldn't even be escorted out by guards or the prince himself. How could Celeste honestly think that I could steal Maxon away from Kriss! After all, he had announced that she was The One in front of the entire kingdom! But, then I reasoned with myself, maybe she just thought I was doubting myself because the King hadn't approved of me or something. She didn't know the real reason. She didn't know about Aspen.

"What if you're wrong Celeste," I whispered back to her, looking at her straight in the eyes for the first time during our conversation. "What if Maxon really wants to marry Kriss and you were just mistaken with how he was looking at me," I finished, tears starting to pool in the back of my eyes again. "You don't know what I did, you don't understand why he wouldn't want me over her."

"I know about you and Officer Leger," she said, flicking her hair as she moved around on my bed to make herself more comfortable. She grunted in frustration and finally set herself in one spot making me wondering what angel soft material her bed was made out of that made her hate mine so much. The tone of her voice hit me like a ton of bricks as her words settled into my head. How long had she known? What had she seen? Why hadn't she told Maxon herself if she hadn't been my friend except in these few final months?

"What," I whispered.

"I was waiting for the right time to tell on you, America, I really was. I saw how much he adored you and I was waiting for the moment I thought he would actually trust what I had to say. But after that night Natalie was sent home, I never saw him leaving your bedroom again. My opportunity was up. I thought I could still find a way to tell him but then you confronted me and reminded me I don't need some silly man to hold up my self-worth. But don't worry, nobody else knows."

"You might not have told anyone but Maxon saw me and so did Kriss," I bit my tongue back wanting to repress that awful memory. She raised her eyebrow at me and nodded for me to continue. "We were going to get married. He told me so. But then we got carried away and I didn't have time to tell him. He was telling Kriss goodbye this morning and he saw me trying to tell Asp—Office Leger that I hadn't slept with Maxon."

I got another raise of the eyebrow, her eyes full of wonder as to the full details of why someone would think that we had been sleeping together. But I shook my head back at her. I wasn't going to give into what she wanted. I didn't want to remember the last time we had been blissfully happy. She shrugged her shoulder, tapping her chin as if she was trying to think of what to tell me. "That all but proves my point, America. Instead of moping about, we really have to find out how we can get you back with Maxon. It doesn't matter if he's proposed to Kriss in front of the kingdom. Like I said, he doesn't love her. We just have to get him to forgive you."

"Why are you even trying to help me?"

"I don't like to be in people's debts," she replied rolling onto her back. "I can see why you two _didn't_ sleep together, this bed is as hard as rock," she whined. I gave her a teasing shake of my head rolling my eyes. This was the softest bed I had ever slept in but I guess as a 2, she would have been able to try out as many mattresses as she had wanted to until she found the perfect fit.

"Spoiled brat," I whispered at her, giving my first real smile since the early hours of the day.

She laughed and rolled her eyes at me. "Pathetic Five."

**Aspen's POV**

Walking through the many floors of the wounded, I tried harder and harder with each passing moment to find _her. _I had seen Mary and she couldn't give me any word as they had apparently gotten separated as they ran for their lives. Anne had disappeared in the chaos and I wouldn't be able to ask her for any information either. One nurse recalled putting someone who fit that description in the third floor of the spread out hospital wing, at the back corner but she couldn't remember if they were alive or had already passed. I prayed that wasn't the case.

The minute I walked into the door I saw her. My beautiful darling, her shining eyes closed and blood covering her lower abdomen. My eyes pooled with tears as I sprinted over and around people who were laying everywhere on that floor and nurses and doctors trying to tend to their every need. I found a seat next to her and stroked her soft hand with my own. She looked as if she had been stitched up already but there was hardly any life to her. I looked up and pushed back all of my tears, grateful that she hadn't been killed in the attack.

"Lucy, I'm here. Aspen's here," I said, leaning down and kissing her ear and forehead gently. Maybe, just maybe, even in this comatose state she could still hear me whispering sweet things to her. Hopefully it would help her wake up, full of life, and happy to see me. I gave her one soft kiss on her lips before I leaned back and held her hand softly in mine.

In these quiet moments all on my own, I couldn't help but to think of Mer and how awful I felt for her. Maxon had proposed to someone else and it was all my fault. I shouldn't have been so surprised or hung around to find out why she had slept with him. That was her business and I just wanted her to be happy. I had it all planned out. I was going to tell her the truth, I was going to tell her about how things had happened between Lucy and I. How I wasn't in love with her anymore and how I couldn't have been happier that she was the one that the Prince had chosen. And in an instant, I had ruined it. While Lucy was, I refused to believe she would leave me, wake up and we would have a happy ending, Mer wouldn't. I don't know why I didn't tell that line to the Prince instead of the fact that Mer had told me to leave her alone and I had still went after her. While that part was only somewhat true, there might have been time to show Maxon that I wasn't trying to steal from him. That she was really all his for the taking. If only he would have let me stay long enough to gather my thoughts and explain the situation! I could have had Lucy brought into the conversation and I could have her backing up my words. Maxon wasn't stupid. He wouldn't believe that no one else knew about Lucy and I. It would just look like a lie to make him seem the fool in not keeping Mer.

I shook my head in regret. If only I hadn't stumbled in. If only I would have known they were together in her room instead of wanting to walk in and tell her the truth about Lucy and I. Somehow, this had to turn out okay for her. I didn't know if she would be able to get Maxon back or not but I still hoped there was someone out there who would love her the way she deserved. I felt a twist in my stomach, some remaining guilt from our previous relationship. If only I had recognized Lucy's affections much further in our past. Perhaps then America would still be with her Prince and I would have been able to let her go a long time ago.

I stroked a few stray hairs out of Lucy's face. Maybe he would still listen to me but I doubted it. Perhaps he owed me that for rescuing his mother's life. I could try and use that to get him to listen to my story. But I knew he wouldn't believe it. "Wake up, Lucy," I whispered, tears finally creeping out of my eyes. "I want to marry you. I want to have a life with you my love. I need you to help me fix the mess I've made."

**Maxon's POV**

I was finally able to escort my mother back to her own room for the night. She had put up quite the fight but finally agreed that she couldn't stay by my father's corpse forever. I saw her up to my aunt's guest room knowing that she shouldn't be alone. I walked down the halls, my mind filling with memories of the last few months of the Selection. I passed down where I told America that I no longer trusted her and she promised she would earn it back. I punched the wall. If only she had told me about Officer Aspen Leger in that moment! I was already needing her to prove herself it would have just been one other aspect to prove to me! I would have forgiven her with time, the same time it would have taken for her to earn back my trust. But she hadn't done that. Was she still in love with him at that point? Had I shown her my deepest, darkest secret and she was still whispering _I love you's _to another man? The idea threatened to break me, so I continued down the hallway trying not to think much about it.

I walked past a small area I had once met Kriss to go on a lunch picnic. I was engaged to her now. But the same thoughts kept running through my head that had been all day. I should be engaged to my Five. I kept trying to shake these feelings. Kriss had been nothing but honest with me throughout this entire thing and I had to be grateful for that. She was beautiful, smart, kind, and loving. She would make a wonderful wife and give me a life worth living. I had to focus on that. But I knew it would be hard with America still in the palace. It will get easier, I told myself. Once she was out of here, I wouldn't have to ever see her again. I could burn the photos of her that I had taken physically and eventually memories with Kriss would replace the ones I had made with her. It would take time and I didn't think rushing into Kriss would be the best idea but it was possible to get over America. And I would. I would fall completely in love with Kriss, with time. With time, America would be the horror story I would tell mine and Kriss's children.

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Thoughts? :)


	3. Chapter 3

**So sorry I haven't been able to update lately. But thank you for favorite my story, following it, and**** leaving reviews. Can't believe it is doing this well! I rewrote this chapter several times but finally decided that I liked this idea for chapter 3 and that this was where it needed to be. Also, it's not that I necessarily plan on making Kriss mean/bitchy or anything but I do think that she would be hard towards any idea of America and still feeling threatened with her in the palace.**

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**Maxon's POV**

In the early hours of the morning everything that had been bothering me melted away. I was actually feeling happy to be engaged to Kriss. She was stable, which was something I needed in the wake of my father's death. I decided that I would head down early in the morning and have a surprise breakfast with my new fiancée. Afterwards, we would be ripped apart and she would have to take care of the funeral arrangements while I started to prepare for my coronation. I had one of my maids send an order to the kitchen to prepare Kriss's favorite meal: eggs benedict something I had never preferred but I wanted to spoil her anyway. I made sure to tell them not to include my favorite breakfast item afraid of how Kriss would react to strawberry tarts being at our engagement breakfast. I rolled out of bed and put on a plain blue shirt and a simple pair of black pants, what I had worn on my first date with her. Hopefully, she would like this surprise.

I walked outside and set down a blanket before sending one of the guards to go and get her. I smiled, leaning back enjoying the sun that was starting to peak out of sky. For once in the past few weeks, I knew it was safe to go outside. The Northern Rebels were still here and they would be staying now that my father had passed and I made the laws. I was beginning to think that nothing could be better than this view when lightly flowing green clothing caught my eye.

She nearly took my breath away. While I had always been captivated and overcome with America's beauty, I hadn't truly appreciated just how beautiful Kriss was. Her hair was curled lightly along her shoulders and collarbone with the necklace I had given her for Christmas sitting just above the bone. The green dress helped to bring out the light shine of green color in her blue eyes out. I stood and took her hand in mine, raising it to my lips and kissing it.

"Good morning, my dear," I whispered to her. That sent a shudder down my spine. I kept myself composed to hide it from her. I didn't want her to see me break at the small two words that reminded me of America Singer. They seemed to go unnoticed.

"What's all this?" She asked, excitement ringing throughout her voice like a song. I looked up and loved the smile that exposed how much gratitude she had for the simple surprise.

"Our engagement dinner was interrupted with all the things that went wrong yesterday and I had to take care of my mother. I just wanted to show you that I can't wait to be your husband and how grateful I am that you are brave enough to continue on with me even though you saw how dangerous this life is going to be."

I gestured her over to my picnic breakfast, serving her with the freshly made eggs benedict and all the fruits the kitchen staff had included. There were also several chocolate muffins which I buttered for her before setting out my own plate. There was silence between us as we ate but the smile never left her face. This was the perfect morning, finally a better way to start off our engagement. As we ate, she slowly leaned against my chest and we watched the sun rise together. The beautiful colors filled our breakfast with a new life. I finally felt relaxed, which was something that might be able to stay as I started to take over the kingdom earlier than I had been meant to.

All of those thoughts fled from my mind as Kriss turned around in my arms and whispered sweet words into my ear. I focused on her words, grateful I knew she wouldn't be saying them to someone else like America had been. She complimented me for the surprise and how I looked in the day's outfit. I ran my finger across her collarbone and lightly played with the charm on the necklace.

"You're beautiful," I whispered to her wanting to kiss her again. But I didn't know if she would let me have another. Her fingers brushed against my lips and I felt my heart flutter at her light touch. How happy she would be able to make me. How happy we would be together. These were the only thoughts that I would allow myself to focus on.

"Kiss me, Maxon, please."

I lightly put my hand on the back of her neck, pulling her closer. Her legs lightly leaned against my lap but she refused my advances to sit her there. I leaned back and finally pressed my lips against hers loving and gently. There wasn't a fire that burned inside me like there was when I kissed America but there was passion and love behind it. The kiss was warm and reassuring, fueling me to keep kissing her gently but fiercely. She returned every moment, her small lips finding their way around mine and finding a way to fit perfectly. I brushed a hand through her hair, gently twirling the curled parts around my fingers. Her hand rested against my chest another locking my fingers around hers. It was small but powerful. It was almost perfect.

My hand rolled out of her hair and down her arm. I wanted to be able to increase the passion in our kiss, let myself know that I could be as attracted to her as I was America. My hand found her waist and hip as my fingers rolled against the material of the dress. Her body was soft and inviting. She continued to kiss me, seeming to get more eager as my hand lightly loved against her body. I didn't want to go too far but the passion behind her kiss drove me to want more out of this meeting. We had only kissed once before and it hadn't gotten nearly as escalated. I rested my hand on her thigh, right above her knee.

Slowly as more passion began to fuel me and I tried to pull her in for a more passionate kiss, she pulled away from it but stayed holding my hand. I smiled soft at her, only slightly upset that I hadn't been able to increase the chemistry between the two of us. But I would respect her wishes.

"I want to give you everything Maxon, every part of me, but as your wife."

I nodded, kissing her forehead. "I know, Kriss. I'm more than willing to wait for that," I replied hoping she didn't think I meant to rush her. But I knew that this physical connection was going to be needed to get over America Singer. It wasn't fair to Kriss that I needed so much, but the look in her eyes seemed to understand. I stood up before helping her get up and kissed her hand once again.

Wrapping her arm around mine I escorted her back to her room. I apologized that we couldn't have very much time together. She nodded and told me that she was ready for all of this and there would never be any reason to explain or apologize. I smiled at that. That was one of the many benefits of marrying Kriss. I headed back to the Great Room knowing that I would have to begin preparing for the day's work in there. On my way I ran into Nicoletta.

"Maxon, may I speak to you," she whispered leaning into my ear as if she didn't want anyone to know that we needed to meet. I was surprised. While I had expected that I would be dragged here and there for the rest of my life, the Princess of Italy wasn't what I had in mind.

I followed her into a small empty room where she sat on a plain table that was in the middle of the room. I looked at her, waiting for her to continue with what she had to say. "Forgive me for being bold but Italy was certain that you would chose Lady America."

"That isn't really Italy's business, even though I understand she was your choice. As you can see, I have picked Lady Kriss and there's no going back."

"I understand that," she replied coldly. Clearly, I had done something wrong in the eyes of Italy by choosing someone other than Lady America. But I honestly didn't care. After the morning that I had had with Kriss, I couldn't wait to get all of the other girls home so I could focus on moving past the Selection. "But as your father has passed away, we would like you to become our ally. On some conditions."

"Conditions?" I was aware that alliances had certain give and takes but this was the first that I would be given complete control of making. But I was also worried about what Italy would want from us.

"Yes. We have decided that we will ally with you but on the condition that you make Lady America the diplomat for Illéa and Italy relations."

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I'll update next if I can get 15 to 20 reviews for this chapter ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**Apparently, I need to be careful what I wish for because you guys blew up the last chapter with reviews within a few hours. Thanks it does mean a lot thought :). SJWrites2014, I hope this was what you were looking for between Celeste and America! I had fun writing it if it wasn't though :P. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I made it longer since the last chapter was a little on the shorter side!**

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**America's POV**

Celeste had spent the night in my room, chatting away with me to keep my mind off Maxon for a few hours. When she had finally fallen asleep I had rolled onto my back and looked at the ceiling of my bedroom. I'd give anything to change things between Maxon and I. But I also wanted him to be happy. I knew that things between Aspen and I were over. I couldn't go running back to him just because Maxon didn't chose me. My feelings just weren't there anymore. And the way he looked at me was full of…disappointment. Surely, he would never believe that I hadn't slept with Maxon that night anyway. I glanced over at Celeste. I wished, in that moment, that I would be able to move on from the Selection the way she would. I wished that I had her attitude about being an eligible bachelorette now that Maxon had chosen his wife. Maxon wanted me gone so being able to possess that kind of attitude would help me put him in the past and find love again. But can a person even have three loves in one lifetime? I doubted that. I could still have a bright future on my own, I guess. But I'd never truly be happy, not without Maxon. I decided that I'd gather all of my things and be able to leave the moment that the ban was lifted off the palace. At least that way, I would be able to work on putting all of this behind me.

I could give the house to Marlee and Carter now that they surely to be pardoned. Or at least they would be allowed to move up in their caste. Maxon had forgiven them for what they had done. He didn't hold any hard feelings towards them, probably never had. At least at the time, he had only loved me. If he had proposed to me they could have been forgiven for their actions almost immediately. They could have children and raise their family in that beautiful house he had given me. I didn't want to give him back his letters those. I wanted to be able to keep a piece of our love alive, somewhere. Somewhere near the early hours of the mornings, all of these thoughts slowly began to put me to sleep.

I was woke up way too early for the hour I had fallen asleep, though. There was a guard I had never seen before at my door, chatting away with Celeste. I watched them through half closed eyes for a few minutes as she flirted away, tossing her hair over her shoulders. Part of me still hated her. How could she look that good having just rolled out of bed! My own hair was in a tangled mess from tossing and turning. Hers looked like the maids had spent hours preparing her for a session on the _Report. _She looked over at me for a minute before saying something to the guard and getting him to shut the door on his way out.

"America!" She shouted, throwing one of my pillows at me as I tried to fall back asleep. "Get out of bed. Prince Maxon has requested your presence."

My heart dropped. _Maxon_ wanted to see me? My heart began to race while my mind was fueled with nothing but panic. Would he want to yell more insults at me like he did before he had proposed to Kriss? Would he tell me that he had sent Aspen to New Asia to die after all? There was no way that this could be a good thing, as much as my heart wanted it to be him calling me to say that Kriss had changed her mind about being princess or he had changed his about her. All of this seemed way too good to be true. I began to shake my head as I looked to Celeste in confusion and fear.

"There must be some kind of mistake," I finally forced out.

"Don't be so pathetic," she hissed back. "You look terrible and this seemed urgent."

"Not everyone can roll out of bed looking like a goddess."

She flashed me one of her biggest smiles, one that I had seen as her picture flashed on the first _Report _that announced all of the girls. It was obvious that she had a plan to make me presentable and make the meeting with Maxon memorable. Sometimes, it was really for the best that we had become friends. I probably would have run the other way had the guard told me himself that Maxon wanted to meet with me. But with Celeste here, I knew that I wouldn't have a choice in whether or not I went. That was something that I was going to need to fall back on today. She began to run a brush through my hair after she pulled one of my dresses out of the closet. For having people wait on her hand and foot her entire life, she seemed to have a pretty good idea of how to brush through other people's knotted hair.

"You're going to walk in their confident and act like you aren't freaking out," she told me as she continued to get the knots out of my hair. "People can sense insecurities and fear. Don't let Maxon see that you're afraid. Especially if you still want to win him back." Another brush. This was the first that tugged my hair a little too hard and I winced. She let out a small giggle before she placed the brush down. "All done, now put on the dress and I'll go with you and the guard to where he requested you."

Quickly, she hobbled out of the room and shut the door behind her. Her last look at me before she shut the door told me to be hasty and not to keep Maxon waiting any longer than we already had. As I put on the dress that she had picked out for me, I glanced over at my bracelet he had gotten me while he was in New Asia. I reached out for it and lightly stroked the beads for a moment. Surely, I thought to myself, it couldn't hurt to wear it to this meeting. Hopefully it would help him see that I did love him—even if that wasn't something that really mattered anymore. At least he might be able to see that I wouldn't be running back to Aspen the minute I walked out of the palace for good. I put on my silver heels and proceeded down the hallway with Celeste and the guard.

**Maxon's POV**

"That is an absurd request!" I nearly shouted back at Nicoletta. She shrugged her shoulders and leaned back as if my anger didn't bother her at all. If I had been anyone but a prin—king I would have grabbed her shoulders and shook her with all of the rage that was boiling up inside of me. Keeping America at the palace or even bringing her around to do work wouldn't help me to get over her at all! I had always admired her spark and passion behind the ideas that she had. Working alongside her would bring up all of the painful feelings I was trying to let go of. And to top it off, I had no idea how Kriss would react to me working with America. I wanted her to trust that I was prepared to become her husband, not keeping America around because I had made the wrong choice. "Did she put you up to this?!" I screamed, demanding to know if she was using her relationship with Italy to continue to cause me more pain.

"No, she doesn't even know that I am requesting she become a diplomat." Her voice was calm and collected once again proving that my anger wasn't even phasing her. Apparently, Italy had made up their minds and they weren't going to change because I was throwing a temper tantrum. For once, I realized, I was reacting to something as king the same way that my father would have. He would have been proud that I chose Kriss and was sticking to that arrangement.

"Why!"

"We like her vision for your country," she started looking me dead in the eye. I could tell she was serious and there wasn't going to be any other agreement we could reach to get the alliance. "We would have preferred that she had become your queen but that is not something we can force on you. However, we can urge you to make her your diplomat if you wish to have us as your ally. And since your attacks here at the palace have gotten much worse, as yesterday shows, you are going to need all the help you can get. With your father's passing, we knew that we could ask you to do that without causing turmoil between our two countries."

"Can't you see you're putting me in turmoil, Nicoletta? I still love America Singer!" I shouted, glad that Kriss was nowhere near to be able to hear this confession. "I don't want her here, I need her to be away from me, away from the palace, away from my decision making processes. Surely, there must be another way."

"I don't know what fell apart between the two of you," she started slowly. I could tell that part of her was completely taken back by the confession I had just made to her. But I was also grateful that she chose not to pry for more information as to why I was so against America being here if I still loved her as I had just said. "I am sorry but this is the only way that Italy will agree to help you. We can have all our weapons taken away from the Northern Rebels and end their training. Or you can agree to our terms and we will be your ally. I am sure that you have a better vision for your country than your father and we would be more than willing to help that vision become a reality."

I bit back my pride. She was right. And I was going to need all of the help I could get. My head still pounded with all of the angry I was holding back and I swallowed a large breath of air before I was able to respond. Through gritted teeth, I finally managed to speak. "If Lady America is willing to accept the position then I will give it to her. Thank you for agreeing to ally with us."

She nodded smiling soft as she headed out of the room. I fell back against the chair at the desk in the small room. My head fell forward into my hands. I knew that I would have to make a lot of sacrifices as king, but I didn't want my happiness with Kriss to be one of those things. Yet, through this conversation, all of the positive things I had felt towards her had melted away. Part of me that wasn't completely pissed off wanted to see what America would be like as a diplomat. I shook this as far out of my conscious thinking as I could as I decided to have one of the guards bring her here to meet with me. I rubbed my temples, trying to get back all of the happy things I had felt when I was kissing Kriss. All of the hope that had been brought out inside of me as we had spent the morning together—one of many that we would spend together as husband and wife. But it just wasn't coming out anymore. And it just wasn't fair. None of this would ever be fair. I didn't know if she would accept the job, but I needed her to. I needed her so we could finally be comrades with Italy. I _needed _her. That feeling hurt.

The minutes seemed to drag on for hours before there was finally a knock at the door. I got up to open it and saw the guard had finally brought me America. I was distracted for a moment that Celeste was here with her. After all the pleading to send her home, the two looked like they were getting along like old friends. I knew she had been crying to Celeste in the safe room while I held Kriss. It irritated me that this was something else she had been making up inside of my head—their rivalry. Surely a friendship between the two of them couldn't have spanned so late in the game. They were both the same person. Toying with my heart and mind in order to pull other things closer to their hearts. It was ridiculous. The only person I could really trust throughout this whole thing was Kriss. My father must have been right about me. I was young and naïve.

"Lady America, if you will please join me for a few minutes," I stated. I didn't want Celeste to be overstaying her welcome at the palace as well. She nodded and stepped inside, the guard closing the door after she had made her way in. As soon as the door was shut, I started to glare at her through gritted teeth. "It's nice to see you," I spat. "And nice to see that you lied to me about another thing. Wouldn't have guessed Celeste would be your best pal but it makes sense."

She shuddered and half opened her mouth as if she was going to defend her friend. I raised my hand not wanting to hear any of it. I just wanted to get this out of the way and get the rest of my business out of the way for the day. "Italy has made us a proposition. Since Kriss is to be my queen and you were their choice, they have made an offer that my country cannot refuse. If you would agree to be diplomat for relations between our country and theirs, then they would more than willingly like to be our allies. You can see in the aftermath of yesterday why I have to agree to their terms."

She looked stunned. She also looked upset that this was what I wanted to talk to her about. But surely, she must have been smart enough to know that I wouldn't have wanted to pull her in here to try and make up or change my engagement. Yet from the look in those beautiful green eyes, that was exactly what she had thought. Or at least hoped deep inside of her.

"Of course, I would hate to pull you away from anyone else's plans for your future," I shot at her, fighting all attempts to pull her into my arms once again. I looked at her lips quivering not sure what to say. Those perfect, pale pink, amazing to kiss lips.

"I would be honored, you're Majesty," she said, with a bow. I nodded my head.

"Thank you, Lady America. You can be on your way now but don't mention to anyone what we have discussed. If you can manage to hold your tongue for a change." She stood up. It was only then that I realized she was wearing my bracelet. That made my heart skip a small beat, especially when I saw that the button was also no longer there. Against all reason, that had to mean something, I hoped.

**America's POV**

I took off in a full sprint away from my conversation with Maxon. I knew it had been a long shot that he would want to talk about anything between the two of us that would end with us getting together again. I had known that leaving my room and walking into that meeting. But it also took away the small pieces of hope I still had left. I wanted to tell him that things had changed between Celeste and me, as well as why. I wanted to tell him that I didn't have to meet with Aspen to make sure that I could take this job. It was my decision because I didn't have any ties to anyone else anymore. I wanted to grab his face and kiss him one last time, hear him say that he loved me one more time. But I knew that all of this wasn't going to do me any good and that some of it just wouldn't happen or wouldn't matter.

And now? Now I had taken a job at the palace. One that would put me in regular contact with Maxon on probably a daily—or at least weekly—basis. I would be working directly under him. What was Nicoletta thinking? Why would the Italian kingdom insist that I had to stay? I was just part of the Selection. I had no training for politics, no idea of what I was going to have to do or say. This was something that should fall to those who are trained or the Queen and King themselves. I wasn't cut out for this job. But I owed Maxon this much. I had so much to set right between the two of us to be okay with myself again. And this was as good a start as any. If I was the only way that the Italians would agree to help then I would stay and do that job.

I rounded a corner and saw Kriss go around a different one, her back to me. How would she feel with me still here? She wasn't going to like it. There was no way that she would want me to stay in the palace as a constant reminder that Maxon had loved me greater than he loved her for the rest of our lives. I felt bad for what I had to do. I felt bad for what I wanted from Maxon. I wiped the tears that finally fell out of my eyes from the amount of stress I was feeling. None of this was fair for her. All of the Selection girls should have been a thing of the past. We might have stayed in contact when she needed support or been Bridesmaids at the wedding like Queen Amberly had said when she had spoken to all of us. But not like this. Especially not with me. Had they asked for Elise or Celeste, she would have been just fine. They weren't a threat to her and Maxon. Or at least they hadn't ever been. I highly doubted I was still a threat. He still spoke with anger and hurt towards me after all.

Somehow, I found myself walking past the hospital wing. I hadn't seen any of my maids since I left my room that morning. I hadn't even thought to ask about them. I decided that I might as well check for them while I was there. I saw one of the list that had all of those they had identified as killed in the attack. On top of the list was King Clarkson, followed by some of the generals and other important figures. Several pages through, I found Anne's name. More tears poured out of me. If I was going to be stuck in the palace, I had hoped that I would be able to keep them around with me. They had been such an amazing support system and losing just one of them was a terrible fate. I was relieved slightly that neither Mary nor Lucy's names were on the list beside hers. I don't know what I would done if I had lost two or all three of them. I continued to walk around, wanting to know if they had been injured but not killed.

Somewhere in my search, I found something that completely shocked me. While I had known about Anne's crush, I didn't know that Mary or Lucy had their eyes on someone. But there in front of my eyes was undeniable proof that they had their own love lives to worry about. Aspen sat by Lucy's side, who appeared to be in a coma but not dead. His lips were pressed against her hand and he looked as if he had been crying and deprived of hours of sleep. Aspen had moved on too. Aspen and Lucy were together.

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Reviews are always appreciated :) And I'll be taking input on whether you'd like to see Maxon telling Kriss that America will be staying as a diplomat in his point of view or in hers.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Thank you for your continued support and all of your compliments. I'm sorry I can't update every day like some of you keep asking (I just started a new job, I'm training for a half marathon, I'm trying to write my own novel and sometimes I have to spend time with real people not just the fictional characters who live inside my head :P).**

**Also, SJWrites2014, as you are the main person who keeps asking me to add more of Celeste/America friendship stuff into the story, I will offer you some more if you update your story. ;)**

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**America's POV**

I stood there absolutely dumbfounded looking back and forth between Aspen and Lucy. While I didn't hold any feelings for him anymore, there was no denying my shock at the scene. How long had this been going on? When did they have time without me noticing? How could I be so blind to see that Aspen wasn't trying to move on from me if he thought there was a possibility I wouldn't pick him? After all, I had told him I wanted space after I thought I was going home. At that point I knew for sure I wanted to be with Maxon. Every moment afterwards I had followed through with being with Maxon and Maxon alone. Of course he would be moving on. And I was more than happy for him. He always wanted to be somebody's hero. That was clear from the moment in the tree-house when he dumped me. He had wanted to be able to provide for me, be my knight in shining armor. But I hadn't needed a knight, I needed someone who would rival my tempers, fight with me, but underneath it all love me unconditionally. That had been Maxon but not Aspen. And now, he had found the woman who needed a knight in shining armor to come and rescue him. There was no one who deserved him more and no one who could ever be better for him.

His eyes fluttered open and looked down at her instinctively. However he eventually felt someone's eyes on him as he turned to look at me. I gave him a small wave, smiling soft. It was the first real smile I could offer anyone since I had lost Maxon. I was glad it was there because I wanted him to know it was okay that he was happy. I wanted one of us to be able to move on past these handful of months and be happy. I walked over to him after he gestured for me to come and sit with him. His hand never left Lucy's. When I got closer I could see there were still tears threatening to fall out of his eyes but he had left them in pools fighting them with everything he had. That was Aspen, brave and true to the very end no matter how hard things got. I pulled up a seat and looked between the two of them. I hoped she'd wake up soon for him.

"Mer," he whispered, placing his other hand on my own. A few months ago, this would have been all that I wanted. Him holding my hand and being with me. Now, it was just out of friendship and that was just fine with me to. "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright, Aspen. I'm so glad you're happy."

He nodded at me before his eyes glanced at Lucy, as if removing them would keep her in a coma forever. He looked back at me not sure what he was going to say. I saw his jaw and lips move as if he was trying to form words but still nothing would come out. "What are you going to do now?"

I shrugged my shoulders knowing that I needed to keep my promise to Maxon and not tell anyone about my new job position. I wanted to be able to gain his trust if we were going to be working together for the rest of our lives. "Return home and go back to performing probably. Maybe teach music. I'm not really sure."

"So he's really sending you home?" I nodded my head sadly. "Well, he's an idiot Mer. I should know I let you go once. I've had conversations with Kriss before, just at a few different parties we were allowed to attend. She's nice but she's no you."

That made me smile softly. He always had a way to make me happier, make me feel good about myself. I would always be grateful for the friendship we had between the two of us. I saw him now as family and a part of me that I would never let go of. That helped to ease the sting of pain I felt about losing my father and Maxon within a few days of each other. I looked again at him and Lucy and couldn't help but to want my questions answered. I wanted to know how long this had been going on, how it started, and how he was feeling. Pretty much anything I could ask him to forget about my new job for a little while as well as forgetting about my disappointing meeting with Maxon.

"When did this happen? I mean it must have happened before we went home because you seemed very put off by the idea of dating Anne." I smiled teasing him as he raised his eyebrow at me. He shrugged his shoulders and looked as if he decided to give me this change of topic that I was looking for. What a good friend I had always had in him.

"A few weeks after you were nearly sent home. She had flirted with me before, pretty much whenever she saw me around running around the palace. I hadn't really noticed her before. Why would I when there was you?" Those words sent shivers down my spine. This was the second time I had heard them but this time it wasn't the words themselves that threatened to break at my heart. It was the reminder of when Maxon had said them to me in the safe room. Aspen must have sensed my pain because he continued in that moment.

"I hadn't really noticed her but after you told me that you didn't want me to start writing or come after you…well it broke my heart. I got drunk that night. Lucy found me crashed against one of the walls. She took me to one of the quarters for the maids and took care of me. The next morning we started talking. And we never really stopped after that."

I nodded my head and opened my mouth to say something but he continued before I could. "I want to marry her, Mer. More than I ever wanted to marry you. We had something but the kind of love we had was for children. This is deeper than what I ever felt for you and now I'm afraid we've both lost our second chance."

I shook my head. "No, Aspen, I've lost my second chance. You, on the other hand, will live a long and happy life with Lucy as soon as she recovers. You will have lots of children and you'll die old together. She won't die here," I reassured him. "I'm the only one who has lost out on their second chance." I stood up and kissed the top of his head. I didn't want any comfort or additional thoughts in my head that Maxon could change his mind and I knew if I hung around that Aspen would try and do that.

Without another word, I headed back to my room wondering if someone would bring Nicoletta so I could ask her about my new job. Ask her what the Italians had been thinking in wanting me to take this position. I decided that I would do just that, not thinking there was much else that could be done for the next couple of days. Part of me wanted to go and apologize to Kriss but that would have to wait until after Maxon had told her I was staying. I wanted her to know I would pursue him. She could have him, she was what he deserved after all. I just hoped that she would be able to accept me in this new position would mean that we would have to be in contact with each other. But I would try my hardest every day to show her I was alright with the way that things had turned out. I would gain her trust—and Maxon's—by not interfering in their relationship like Celeste had suggested I do. I, instead, would focus myself on my line of work and learning and doing as much as I could to make sure that Illéa and Italy relationships became one of the strongest that we had ever known. I smiled at myself with new purpose for the first time since I had lost Maxon. Everything could turn around, slowly, but surely.

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**Maxon's POV**

The hours had dragged on since my meeting with America that morning. I was grateful, not wanting to be in a rush to tell Kriss about the arrangement with the Italians. While I didn't think she would have a temper about it, I was completely unsure how she would respond to me agreeing. Part of me wished that she would lash it out at me. At least then I could argue back at why we had to be able to accept that America would forever be in both of our lives. Hopefully because she didn't have a temper and had never been as quick to doubt herself, she would be able to see this would stay as simply a business arrangement. That's all I could hope for.

By my last meeting I had become completely exhausted. There was the matter of naming me king, the funeral—which Kriss was more in charge of than me but I was grateful for it—simple wedding details but most of those were being pushed off until we were ready to set a date, as well as reviewing some of the final orders my father had planned to carry out before his death. Another trip to New Asia was within a few weeks' time. I groaned. Hadn't our last meeting been in vain? Well, perhaps now that the Italians had agreed to become our allies I would be able to convince them to come with me and help to end that war. One less problem to worry about. Still, I dreaded the thought that they might not agree to a peace treaty. That was all that I wanted to start off my ruling as king though. Then I would move onto my project to dismantle the Caste system. America had lost my trust of me telling her that was one of my biggest plans. I had both admired and hated that she threw it out on the _Report. _Part of me simply admired her courage—even if it was molded with stupidity—while the other part wanted to have the honor of presenting that idea on a grand scale. She had taken that moment for herself when I had wanted to share it with her. At least Kriss would share in that with me the next time it was announced.

After my meetings, I decided to have dinner on my own before going to confront Kriss. I wanted to be able to relax and refuel before I delivered the news, as I figured it would be a long night before I was able to return to my own room to sleep. I would do anything to wash away her fears. But I needed energy to be able to do that. I leaned back on one of the more comfortable chairs in the King's Suite as my meal was brought to me by one of my new maids. I thanked her as she headed back out the door and sighed, breathing in the few moments of relaxation I would be able to add to my hectic day. When I was finally able to relax, however, there was a soft knock at my door. At first I figured it was Kriss. But once it opened, I was almost overly grateful to see that it was just my mother. I welcomed her in, setting aside my dinner so we could talk for a few minutes.

Her eyes were still red but they weren't as dark a color as they were last night. She was still grieving but at least she was doing a little bit better. I hoped she didn't notice my lack of emotions towards my father's death. I didn't know how to feel or what to think—or what to say to anyone on the matter so I really hoped she wouldn't bring him up. "He'd be so proud of you Maxon. He always was. He loved you so much." _Lies, _I mentally spat at her words. But I would never, not even in his death, give my mother a reason to doubt that he had been anything but a good father to me.

"I had thought for sure you'd have chosen Lady America, Maxon, and I do hope that if you felt pressured to choose otherwise that you sent things straight now. But, if Lady Kriss is who you are happy with and love, then I support that as well. I think she will make a very good princess, too." So mother had been cheering on America—which I really already knew—alongside the Italians. Part of me wished I could open up to her about the Italian's offer and how it was making me feel. Part of me wanted to tell her about Officer Aspen Leger and the morning I had wanted to propose to America. But I was afraid that I would keep losing the good feelings I had felt radiating off of Kriss this morning so I kept my mouth shut.

"The Italians have agreed to be our allies. Lady America will be our diplomat over Italian relations. Hopefully," I started slowly, not sure what anyone would think of my idea, "I will be able to use that alliance to help end the war with New Asia. I think that would be a really good way to start off my time as king."

She smiled at me with a face full of pride. That was something my father would have never shown to me. I was immensely grateful to be getting it from my mother. While she hadn't ever had control over war meetings, there was so much that she was in charge of behind the scenes. If I could be anything like her, accomplish all of the good and grand things she could—or at least on the same scale—than I knew that I could be proud of the things I was doing.

"There is something I would like you to consider, Maxon." I nodded my head for her to continue. I would do almost anything that my mother asked me to. "That officer, Leger I believe, who took control of yesterday's events and saved my life, I would like you to get the Major to offer him a promotion as well as a medal for good services."

_Good services? _My mind began to pound the way it did the first time the words Nicoletta said this morning did. What good services had he done besides saving my mother: more lies and betrayals from Lady America. But I couldn't tell her any of that. I couldn't tell her that I wouldn't have him honored as a hero either. After all, he was the only reason I wasn't an orphan. I had to agree, even though a small part of me just wanted to run a sword through him. I nodded my head quickly and mouthed something along the lines that I would make sure it was taken care of.

After she left, I found myself no longer in the mood for my dinner. Instead, I decided it was simply time to tell Kriss that America would be staying around until she retired from her new position. I got up and walked down the hall to the Princess suite. I realized I hadn't been here since I showed Marlee to America.

Smiling up at me answering the knock on my door was my future bride. I smiled and kissed her forehead before walking in. She had added a few minor decorations to the room but nothing could be really done until the ban had been lifted off the palace.

"Lady…I mean Princess Kriss," I said quickly correcting myself. That would take some time to get used to, but I would have to work on it nonetheless. "I have some news I need to share with you." She looked up at me, fear flashing through her eyes. I wondered if she assumed I had gone back to America being my choice so I quickly wrapped her in my arms. "The Italians have requested that, on the terms of being in alliance with them, Lady America become their diplomat. We need their aid to keep training the Northern Rebels and to end the war in New Asia."

"She's staying." I could hear the anger, hurt, and a small ounce of fear behind those words. I wrapped her tighter in my arms. I just wanted her to feel better about the situation.

"Yes."

"This isn't fair, Maxon. The Selection was supposed to be over all the other girls were supposed to be sent home." I felt a small tear roll down her shoulder. I hadn't meant to make her this upset about it.

"I know it isn't fair to you, Kriss. But our country needs this. I understand if you don't want to stay—"

"Of course I want to stay, I love you Maxon. I just wish she didn't have to be here anymore is all." She looked up at me with pleading eyes and I closed to distance between us with a small kiss. I wanted to reawaken those feelings that I had this morning, show her that America was long gone. She sunk into my arms and I was grateful that she was beginning to trust me. When the kiss broke, she tucked her head under my chin and stayed locked in my arms.

"Stay the night with me," she whispered quietly after what seemed like hours of silence. I nodded but was completely surprised by the request. But I wasn't stupid enough to refuse it.

I laid down with her against my chest after stripping down to my under shirt so that I could be comfortable. She laid curled up in a small ball against my chest and I held her there securely. Stroking her hair until she fell asleep I found that all I could think about once again was America and Officer Leger. I decided that I would have to look into just how much she had kept from me, just how much she had lied to me, if I was going to have to keep them both around in high positions of power. I closed my eyes and drifted off to the sound of Kriss' gentle breathing, glad that she had calmed down from our discussion.

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Please don't kill me for the addition of yet another Kriss/Maxon scene. And please review. And yes, poor Maxon can't seem to catch a break. Having to promote Aspen and give America a job as a diplomat. Through given the reviews some of you have given me I'm guessing you'll say he deserves it for not taking America back already? :) Reviews are so very much appreciated .


	6. Chapter 6

**Here is your update! :) Thank you for all your reviews, I can't believe that we are already almost to 100 reviews! Since I want to celebrate this milestone, if I have a way to contact you via PM on this website, then I would like to offer the 98th, 99th, and 100th reviewers a sneak peek at the next chapter! Depending on which reviewer you are, you'll get that amount of words sent to you in the PM. Also, I have some time off work on Thursday and Friday and I plan on writing out a few chapters to get ahead that way if I get too busy to write I can stagger the posting and get you all some more of my little story! **

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**America's POV****  
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The next morning I woke up early to get ready for the alliance treaty signing with Italy. While there were still very few things we could do with the palace still being on a ban, there were enough camera men and journalists to capture the moment and make it known to the world within a few hours. It would take a little extra time and I wasn't sure how they'd actually get it all done, but I knew that they would have a way. Afterwards would be the _Report, _which would start off talking about the new alliance and then focus in on the main event—Prince Maxon's engagement and his plans on becoming King now that Clarkson had passed on. Kriss would also announce the day of the funeral but that had been a very skeptical thought amongst everyone. We need that the Southern Rebels had informants and would probably try to attack again during the funeral. If they didn't want Clarkson for a king—or any king for that matter—they would be more than happy to try and take out Maxon once again. That thought made my stomach turn and I hoped they would be smart about announce the funeral. Even if they waited for that day, it would be better than giving advanced notice to the rebels. Hopefully, that would be what they decided on.

I hadn't seen much of Celeste that morning, except to tell her that I was going to be busy doing things throughout the day. She had tried to pester me into telling her what was going on but I kept my promise and vow of silence to Maxon. I wanted to show that I would be a dependable worker by keeping this a secret until after the press meeting and signing of the new alliance document by Italy and Illéa. I, of course, would be filling out the diplomat portion of the document while the two kings filled out their own. I was a little nervous about the whole thing though. I didn't think I would be able to handle this kind of responsibility. I didn't even know where to begin or what would really be expected of me a diplomat besides signing these documents. I guess if I can compete with 35 other girls for the heart of one man and get pretty far in that competition, I can do this job. There will be less people to talk to and understand. That would make it easier than the Selection by far. And no one would have a personal agenda against me—or at least I hoped they wouldn't. Who knew how Kriss had taken the news? Who knew how Illéa would take the news that a former five was going to become a diplomat? I guess they just have to accept it as is, there was only one way we would get a partnership with Italy. Lucky me having Italy on my side and all future matters.

I zipped up the rest of my dress on my own. I tried to make it as simple as possible, not sure what Kriss would be wearing on the _Report _later in the day and I didn't want to out shine her. I wanted to show her that I was trying to be happy for her, like we promised each other we would be, no matter how much I was still dying on the inside. Today was going to be the first step in that journey though and I knew I could propel myself in the right direction at this meeting. I decided on my father's necklace but I also debated putting on Maxon's bracelet. The two sat next to each other on my nightstand, on top of Maxon's letters, and seemed to complement each other so well. There was no part of me that wasn't worried about how Kriss would take me wearing it though. I picked it up and lightly played with it between my fingers, sliding it half way on before taking it off again. I then decided that he had given all the other girls presents—whether it be on dates, before the Court date, or at Christmas—and that they would be treasuring those forever. I decided that it was just going to have to be okay for me to wear mine. It was just jewelry after all. I left the letters untouched though. He hadn't asked for them again and I wasn't very willing to hand them over. I wanted to remember that I had made him fall in love with me and that I had held his love for a while in my life. I wanted to keep them as a reminder to be truthful and honest with him as we continued to work together and to hold a better temper. I was going to be the best diplomat Illéa had ever had, plain and simple.

There was a strong knock at my door which shook me out of my thoughts. It was time already, I realized, knowing that it had to be my escort outside my door. I walked over to greet him, grabbing my shoes off the floor so I wouldn't forget to put them on in my nervous state. I looked at his name plate, wanting to be able to be friendly to him and try and make a conversation to help calm myself before we reached the Great Room. After all, the last time I had been in there Maxon had proposed to Kriss, King Clarkson had been killed, and there was all around chaos that had changed a lot of things that I had known to be true in my life. Officer Alexander, it read. I put up my finger to ask for one minute to put on my shoes before we headed out the door. He nodded, standing tall and waiting patiently as if we had nothing but time to get to the treaty signing.

"Hello, Officer Alexander," I said, shutting my bedroom door as we headed down the hallway. I wasn't sure why we needed an escort, very few people knew that this meeting was taking place, but perhaps it was just for precautions. I guess that I should have already been used to escorts and would have to get used to it for the rest of my life.

"You can just call me Scott, Lady America. Officer Alexander is so formal, even if I am on duty."

I smiled and nodded as we continued down the hallway. "Where are you from?" I asked, not sure if it was actually something we should be discussing but at this point I would do almost anything to keep the butterflies from flipping my stomach into any more knots. I just needed something to help me get through the day, help me relax and be okay with the official news of Maxon and Kriss' engagement. Anything, anything at all was the perfect distraction.

"Clermont. I actually grew up near Celeste. She didn't seem to have changed a bit from the little girl I knew, or at least what I watched of the footage of the Selection."

I giggled slightly to myself. For whatever reason, the idea of the old Celeste was humorous. It just reminded me of the girl who had spent the previous night in my room, chatting away with me to distract me from whatever pain I was feeling. Plotting to help me take back the man of my dreams if that was what I wanted. Trying to help remind me that Maxon was still in love with me, no matter what shield he was putting up between us. She had changed in so many ways and in others, not at all. She was still extremely cunning.

We reached the doors to the Great Room and he gave me a small bow before shutting them behind my entrance. Kriss was already in the room but was in one corner talking to some of the Italian diplomats. The Italian queen and king weren't there yet and neither was Maxon. In the opposite corner of the room was Queen Amberly and Nicoletta. And then there was just me, my back to the doors and standing all alone not sure who I was supposed to go talk to. I didn't really want to go near Kriss but I didn't want to have to look Amberly in the eyes. I still hoped that she could have been my mother-in-law and it hurt that everything she had whispered to me would never be true. I decided to just take my seat at the table and play with my thumbs while I waited for the meeting to start. I felt a pair of eyes glare at me for a moment, and that all but helped to ensure my decision to stay away from the conversations that were flittering around the room.

**Maxon's POV**

I wasn't looking forward to today. I hadn't slept well, as images of America and I had haunted all of my dreams. They had popped up between ideas of the future with Kriss which still stung that I couldn't quite get over her. I was working on it though, Kriss knew that, and everything was starting to seem like it was going to turn around. I finished getting ready, putting on my best suit to look presentable for the _Report _and the alliance treaty signing. While it wasn't an official act as king, as I had yet to officially be placed with that title, I had been urged by several of my advisors to add this to my engagement report. They hoped that it would give the Southern Rebels a little something to fear and help to prevent any attacks in the nearby future. It wouldn't keep them forever but they hoped we would be able to get through the funeral and most of the wedding planning, or wedding itself, without an incident. I just hoped that it would show Illéa that I was ready to become king, even if my teachings had been cut short at the loss of my father. I would be one of the last people to arrive to the meeting, alongside the Italian king to show that we were united as one force. Everyone else would be there before us and be allowed to mingle and talk about how excited they were that we were finally going to be united as two countries. I shook my head, this was kind of like a wedding within itself.

I headed out of my room at the knock at my door. We were using as few guards as possible for retrieval of the people. Officer Alexander had been assigned to Illéa royalty and diplomatic leaders and Captain Henson had been assigned to Italy. We wanted to attract as little attention as possible to people being moved around the castle, so it had taken a great deal of time to get everyone inside the Great Room. But no one was really in any rush to do anything else. We just had to get through this and the later broadcasting of the _Report _today. It would be a few more days before the ban on the palace was lifted, so we all needed to relax until then anyway.

I had decided that I would ask Officer Alexander to go around and find out what he could about Lady America and Officer Leger. His family had been members of the guard for many years—and his father was our leading Master General in New Asia at the moment. He had proved himself to be trustworthy and was usually the guard posted outside of my room anyway. I knew I could trust him to keep the assignment quiet, as well as to be honest with me in his findings and make them discreet. We walked down to the Great Room and I quietly explained to him why I needed this information. He simply nodded and didn't add much to the conversation, other than that he would be willing to do it if it was something I truly wanted.

The doors were locked after I entered the room with the Italian king. We walked side by side to our seats in the middle of the table. On either side of us was our chosen delegate—which meant that I was sitting next to America. Everyone stood as we walked to our seats before we all stood together, photos being shot of us at every direction imaginable. I looked through the room that was filled only with a few members of each royal family and Kriss. She kept her eyes glued on me and I could tell that she was trying not to lose control of the negative feelings she had towards America. I was proud of her for that. I was also very grateful that she could conduct herself in such a manner.

I looked over at America from the corner of my eye and I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was nervous. I didn't want her to be worried, I knew that she would do a wonderful job as diplomat. She was stubborn and bold, something that was well needed in order to make arrangements and work out problems in planning. The country would be in good hands at her working in this position. Barely moving my lips, I managed to send a few words over her way.

"There will be plenty of people to help you learn how to do your job. You already have the right attitude and you're very stubborn. You'll make a perfect diplomat," I whispered through my smile as we posed to take a picture once more. She looked up at me, almost awestruck at what I had just told her. It was only then that I realized these were the first words I had spoken kindly to her in the past two days.

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**Well, _there _is the only Maxerica that I can really offer you guys right now. He IS still engaged to Kriss and they are both still trying to accept that. They were in love, after all, it isn't a it's been one day I'm over you sort of thing. And I know you'll say that he should listen to America and talk it through but he's still hurt guys. He's been lied to and is probably afraid of her spinning up some more lies just to get him to forgive her and take her back! :) Or something like that, I dunno that's what the borrowed Maxon who lives inside my head is telling me anyway! :) Much love! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Over 100 reviews! You guys rock! And to clear up any confusion, it's Officer Alexander's father who is one of the head guys in the Royal Army not Aspen's. Anyway, I've written chapter 7 (as you can see) and have chapters 8, 9, 10, and some of 11 mapped out in my head. :)**

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Maxon's POV

The signing of the treaty had gone rather quickly once the photographs had died down. I was still a bit ashamed with how harsh I had been acting towards America but there was also a part of me that thought she deserved it. She had lied to my face and had made me fall hopelessly in love with her. How could I possibly want to be saying nice things to her? I looked down at Kriss and smiled as I continued to fill out my portion of the paperwork. She smiled back at me and her eyes beamed with pride. I nodded softly at her before focusing back on the task in front of me. Once it was all filled out we filed out of the room and headed in our different ways. I had planned on going to see Kriss before the _Report _started but I had too many people wanting to interview me on what my next plans would be as king following the coronation. When I finally managed to pull myself away, I knew I needed to go and get ready so anytime with my fiancée was going to have to be put on hold.

My maids had laid out a new suit, black with a bold blue tie to go around my neck. It was very regal and would go very well with the rest of the evening's events. After we discussed the treaty and the engagement with Gavril for the people of Illéa to see, there would be a small reception for the Italian diplomats in order to celebrate our success in our new partnership and be able to enjoy that we had finally reached terms together. It would also be the only time that we would really be able to celebrate our engagement. Since the rebels attacked, we had to put off celebrating with Kriss' family in order to get things back to the way they should be. Her family would be invited alongside the Italian royal line, Italian diplomats, the Illéa diplomats, and my royal family. Then it would be time to move past the engagement and begin working on the plans for me to have my coronation as king as well as the funeral. I had decided against announcing the date as I should have, out of fear that the Southern Rebels would try and attack that day. Alongside that, there would be a small ceremony planned for Officer Leger who was to become a captain in the Royal Guard. I chewed on my lip still disgusted at the idea but having no way out. He had secured his place as a Two and that meant that America would go up another caste when they eventually were married—something that she may or may not actually deserve.

There was a knock at my door and Officer Alexander stepped in. After the signing, he had gone off on the mission I had assigned him to. I was surprised that he had returned with the news so quickly but was glad that I would be able to get all of the information I wanted before the reception party later in the evening. "What information do you have for me, Scott?" I asked him, rolling my jacket over my shoulders to finish getting ready for the _Report _in an hour and a half. I sat down at my desk and motioned for him to do the same.

"Quite a bit, your Majesty," he replied slowly. "It seems that there were many nights that Officer Leger was missing from his assigned post for an hour or so, and Lady America's maid report that on some of those nights she was gone from her room or they had been sent away." My blood began to boil at that. So she must have never really gotten over him, must have never really loved me at all if she was sneaking around to see him so much. She was a very talented liar, something that I was sure she must be proud of. "However," he continued breaking me from my trail of thought, "It seems that following the night of the _Report _where she proposed that the caste system be done away with, there was very little connection between the two of them at odd hours during the day. As a matter of fact, sir, it was even mentioned by some of the guards that the only time they were together was when you were there alongside them."

That made my heart stop. The day that she had promised to earn back my trust, the night after I had shown her my darkest secret, the night I almost couldn't keep her from being sent home, was the night that she had stopped seeing Officer Leger. My heart then began to pound at an extremely accelerated rate. Perhaps she hadn't been lying to me after all. Well, at least not about loving me when she said it the night I told her she had won. If people had noticed her absence before and it had stopped, if people had noticed his absence before and he had stopped, that must have meant that she was focusing on our relationship, right? It had to have meant something and I closed my eyes unsure of how to feel. All this time I was trying so hard to push all of these feelings onto Kriss and all I could do was think about how much I loved America. And tonight, in front of all of Illéa, I would have to talk about how happy I was to marry my fiancée and some of the basic wedding plans. I had buried any chance of me and America when I refused to forgive her. We would become the sweethearts and become next in line to stand up next to each other as king and queen. In that fit of anger, I had lost America Singer forever and set myself up for a life with Kriss Ambers.

"There is one other thing, your Majesty. It appears that Lady America's maid was hospitalized in the rebel attack. One of the hospital guard mentioned to me that she was seen there with Officer Leger. That's the only information I have for you sir," he finished. I nodded at him and gestured for him to leave.

Of course she would be working on taking him back now. Did I not expect her to be more forgiving than I was? I knew in our ending that I would always have feelings for my first love, she must have been going through something similar. She wanted a future with someone, a family. I had seen how loving and caring she was through interactions with her maids. She wanted to have children, become a mother and someone's wife. If this officer still had feelings for her, of course she would fall back into that. It may not go all the way through marriage but it would be the start of her rebound from her. Tears prickled out of my eyes and I forced my composure. I wanted to go and speak to her but it wasn't like I could really apologize and take her back. I had told Kriss that I would try and love her with my whole heart the way that she loved me. But my heart felt broken all over again. The only way out of this marriage was for Kriss to decide she didn't want to be the One anymore. And she hadn't done anything wrong, I didn't want to be an ass to her and make her want to change her mind. I had to stick to my original plan and work on letting go of America. I'm sure that I could fall in love with Kriss if I actually gave her a shot. She was beautiful and kind, she had amazing qualities that were hard to find, there had to be something inside her that could spark me loving her truly and completely.

I headed down to the stage knowing that it was time for the _Report. _Somehow I had managed to push away all of the tears. I smiled as I saw Kriss on the opposite side of the stage. She looked radiant in her light teal dress. She smiled brightly at me and I sent one back her way. I nodded at her, telling myself over and over again that Lady America was moving on from me and that I needed to be able to do the same. But my heart still ached from the news that Officer Alexander had offered as I headed onto the stage at Gavril saying my name.

I smiled and shook his hand as I sat down to begin my interview. "Prince Maxon, let me first say how sorry I am for the loss of your father. I can't imagine how hard that must be for you in a time that is supposed to be a celebration in your life." I nodded looking sad at the crowd. It was almost a good thing that I had received that news before the _Report. _I don't know if I could hide my mixed emotions about my father's death otherwise. "But, I'm sure that your fiancée has been rather supportive through all of this. How lucky you are to have something so sturdy to fall back on in hard times!" His tone was turning towards being more cheerful which meant that it was almost time to bring Kriss onto the stage.

"Yes, Gavril, Kriss is simply wonderful. I don't know any other woman who would be so patient about their wedding day being pushed onto the back burner to allow a man to grieve for the loss of his father. She continues to amaze me daily," I smiled at him and then back into the crowd. I could almost feel her eyes beaming at the compliment I had just paid her.

"So, if I may ask, when did you finally decide that she was going to be the Princess? Over Christmas I'm guessing as the Selection was ended shortly after?"

I wanted to reply that I hadn't decided on her at all. My decision had been altered by my stubbornness and I almost wished I had been injured in the attack. Maybe it would have helped me be less stubborn about the whole thing. Instead I replied, "Yes, Gavril, it was around then that I decided on my wife. She had almost always stuck out to me among the crowd of girls at the palace, her personality was just so different, and she had always treated me as a normal person. She was my friend that I realized I couldn't live without." I smiled to myself, glad that I could describe my perfect woman in such a nonspecific way that everyone wouldn't look past it to see that I was still working on letting go of those feelings about Lady America.

"Well that's just wonderful, what an amazing woman. Are you ready for your Princess to be brought out, Illéa?" he shouted to the crowd, which cheered and clapped, a few members chanting Kriss' name as she stepped out onto the stage. They absolutely adored her. I smiled and placed my arm around her shoulders, holding her close as she sat down next to me. She shook Gavril's hand and waved at the crowd before contently sitting down next to me.

"Thank you for having me here tonight, Gavril. It's such a wonderful evening to be here with you all, announcing our engagement and sharing in this beautiful moment with all of you," Kriss said regally, just like she was already the queen. She looked over at me and smiled. "It was a hard way's journey to get here but I am so honored to be loved by such a wonderful man."

"Indeed you are, it must have been hard beating out all of the other Selection girls. We were all aware that there were a few other close options but you ended up on top."

"Yes, Gavril," she replied smiling over at me. "There were others, like Lady Marlee and Lady America, who were my toughest competition. Lady Marlee was the public's favorite for a very long time and it was always clear to me that Lady America and my prince had a bond that no one could quite understand. Luckily when it came down to it I was able to stand out amongst the other girls. I can't imagine a future with anyone else."

Gavril laughed and then turned to face me once again. "And this morning you welcomed in your first accomplishment as the future king," he started slowly, then adding, "That's right Illéa, your crown prince signed an alliance treaty with the Italian government this morning. Something that I understand had been in the works for a very long time?"

"Yes," I smiled back softly. "My father had been trying to get their support for some time now and laid down some basic ground work that I was able to finish," I lied. I didn't want to confront them about the real reason that the Italians had finally agreed. They didn't really need to know and when the time came that America would be recognized as the diplomat, they probably wouldn't even care.

"Well, I'm sure that you'll do a very wonderful job having a start off like that to your rule!" He smiled as the crowd chanted choruses of Long Live Prince Maxon—and Princess Kriss. "Well that's all we have time for but I would like to ask one final question that is on everyone's minds. Will there be a wedding date in the near future?"

"Probably not quite as near as it would have been if we hadn't lost my father," I replied slowly. The crowd sighed.

"Unfortunately we have to plan the funeral and arrange for the coronation. There will be several other steps in Prince Maxon's training before we can really focus on too many wedding details but it will probably be no later than April or May," Kriss joined in, looking over at me before planting a small kiss on my lips. The crowd clapped as the _Report _was cut off.

**America's POV**

I had watched the _Report _with Celeste and Marlee, both of who tried to keep my attention on my new job as diplomat. Since Kriss obviously now knew I was staying, as well as several others, I figured that it would be fine that they knew what I had done with my morning. They both told me how much they admired my new position—Celeste with a teasing gesture about how she couldn't believe a Five still had more power than she did—and told me how much men would admire that I was a strong, independent woman in a high position of honor. I would become the most wanted woman out of the Selection girls and if Maxon had been foolish enough to let me go, I would find true love. It was the first time I felt like I was having stereotypical 'girlfriend' time with true friends and I appreciated it. They helped to get me ready for the reception and threw a few pieces of the popcorn we had the maids bring in at the television whenever Kriss would start speaking. It had made me laugh and made me feel so honored that both of these girls had become my new and closest friends.

They put me in a simple, yet extremely elegant, black dress that they had found in the back of my closet. Celeste had referred to it as my Little Black Dress, something that the girls in Claremont (and other Twos) would wear to steal away the attention in the room. I had protested but they had fallen amongst deaf ears as I was given pearls and red heels to go alongside my outfit for the evening. They had curled my hair and put it in an up-do so that it fell along my shoulders before sending me on my way for the evening. I hoped that I would be able to sit with the Italians and be as far away from Kriss and Maxon as I possibly could be. It would make sense for me to be seated with them anyway, as we would all begin working together from this point on. But I didn't know how close the Italians would be to the royal family either. I just had to keep my head up high and keep my thoughts focused on celebrating the alliance and being happy for the new couple. It was the only thing that was going to help me finally let go of all my leftover feelings for Maxon.

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Yes I know it's a lot of oh I have get over him/her right now but again it's only been a handful of days. In the next few chapters a lot of that will be changing. :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Well, as promised I updated both days of my break from work. I'll try to update again soon but I have a half marathon next Saturday and that's the only reason I get next weekend off work. But I'll try super hard to make time to update again! :) Also, if any of you know The One by the Backstreet Boys, the song I used in this chapter then I would just ask that you try to imagine the beat slowed down to a waltz but the lyrics were just too perfect for me not to use! Plus the title of the song fit perfectly itself. **

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**America's POV**

I walked out into the gardens where the reception was being held. The perimeter was swarming with guards but they and Maxon must have thought it was safe enough to hold the reception outdoors. It was an unusually warm evening for being just a few days before New Year's but I liked it. Carolina winters were usually so much harsher but that might have been due to the fact that we didn't always have electricity or heating, proper clothing was also usually in short amounts. I enjoyed this winter weather though, it was simply amazing. I walked towards Nicoletta smiling softly and I could feel several of the guard's eyes on me. Celeste was right, this outfit was going to draw so much attention. The pearls helped me to feel regal unlike the last time that I had a special dress pulled out to wear. That time I had only felt like a high class hooker by the end of the day. I kept walking towards my friend, ignoring the fact that Maxon was currently greeting Kriss' parents, smiling, laughing, and shaking their hands as they all posed together in photos. He hadn't seen me yet and I was secretly glad. I didn't want to have to go and talk to either of them, not here, not yet.

"Nicoletta thank you so much for getting me this job," I started as she threw her arms around me in a hug. I hugged her back before pulling away for a moment. I looked at her in her light orange dress. Not many girls could pull of that color or shade but she looked extremely good in it. I almost wished that I could pull it off but it would completely clash with the color of my hair.

"You look absolutely stunning, America," she stated, kissing my cheek as was custom in most of Europe. I smiled softly back at her and lightly let my hands fall next to my hips. "I mean it, any one would be lucky to pick you up now that you're a single former Elite!"

I shook my head and gave her my biggest smile. "Thank you, some friends of mine helped to pick it out. I had no idea what to wear what this or what would be appropriate. I still don't even feel like I'm right for this job but I feel so honored that you do."

"Nonsense, Lady America. You are exactly what us Italians wanted on your thrown but since we couldn't have that, we had to be able to offer you a way to keep a hand in your government. You are such a wonderful idealist," she smiled and pulled me around to introduce me to several of her relatives as we waited for everyone else to get to the reception. Unfortunately it seemed that Maxon, Kriss, Queen Amberly, the Italians, and I would all be at the same table for the meal portion of the evening. There would be some light ballroom dancing afterwards inside of the palace and then the evening would be finished. I knew that there was a tradition for the engaged couple to have their first dance at the reception and then a different one at the wedding. It was to be a beautiful spectacle but I was beginning to think that it would make me throw up.

Finally, Maxon and Kriss reached the top of the table and the rest of us followed suit to our seats. Nicoletta sat next to me and gestured for her younger brother on my other side. "Lady America, this is Prince Daniele. He's your age," she smiled lightly elbowing me as she whispered the last part into my ear. "He's actually one of the diplomats that you will be working with, given that I am the heir to our thrown," she finished giving a teasing smile to her brother.

I turned towards him to shake his hand. He stood out from the rest of his family. While every other Italian I had met had golden skin and light features, he did not. He was slightly more tanned and toned. He was missing the lean features that Nicoletta, their cousins, and parents seemed to have but it was simply out of his muscle mass. His eyes were a light chocolate brown however, which was the slightest of all his features. I smiled and extended my hand towards him, which he lightly lifted to his mouth and planted a small kiss on his lips.

"Lady America, what a beautiful name for such a beautiful girl. How wonderful it is to finally meet you in person, I can't wait to start working with you," he said as he lightly dropped my hand back onto the table. I smiled at him and couldn't help but to adore his accent. I had always heard about this sensation that could come out from women from the simple accent of a foreign man. I didn't think it was actually true until this moment.

"It's very nice to meet you as well, Prince Daniele." I replied and turned back towards Nicoletta as we waited for our meal to be brought out to us.

She smiled and wiggled her eyebrows teasingly back at me after her brother excused himself to go and use the restroom. I guess he had already dove into his champagne while we waited for the main course to be brought out. She giggled before finally revealing her thoughts to me. "You should get to know him, he's quite impressive for a boy. And who knows, maybe you two could fall in love and get married. Then you could be my sister-in-law!"

I rolled my eyes at her gently and teasingly nudged her back. "Who knows," I replied as our meal was brought out. Conversation between us died down after that as we just focused on eating.

**Maxon's POV**

Kriss' parents were absolutely lovely and treated me with the upmost respect and love. It was as if we were already family. I smiled and gestured Kriss over to our seats as I knew that it was time to start the celebration. I would be making a few toast in honor of our treaty, my fiancée, and our new diplomat. I couldn't help but stare at America as Kriss and I took our seats at the head of the table however. She looked absolutely breathtaking in the outfit that her maids had picked out for her. The dress showed off everything that I had adored in her and the heels themselves almost seemed to give her enough confidence to light up the entire room. The pearls were a lovely choice to contrast the simplicity of the dress and shoes. I quickly tore my eyes away from her, though it must have been too slowly for it to have gone unnoticed by Kriss. I saw her lightly glaring at America's back so I tried to comfort her by wrapping my arm around her. For once, she didn't let me.

We took our seats and I pulled her chair out for her. Everyone else followed suit and the side dish was presented for us by the head cooks. It was a simple side of salad and soup to be followed by the best cuts of chicken, grilled with lemon juice and other spices, that our kitchens could offer. I managed to get Kriss to let me hold her hand once we were sitting down and that relaxed me about how badly I had offended her. I was trying to get better now that I knew America was moving on from me, too. But the news I had received today was making that a little more difficult than it should have been.

While we ate, I couldn't help but to glance around the tables at all of our guests. It was then that I noticed Prince Daniele kissing America's hand. That made my stomach turn. It brought back the memories of when I myself had done that. How soft it had been when I kissed her hand. I shook the thought out of my head and looked back over at Kriss. She looked beautiful in her dress as well but I still couldn't make it stand out as much. No matter how hard I tried these feelings still weren't going away.

I received my meal first and took a small bite before it was handed out to the rest of my guests. It was then that I heard Nicoletta's comment that America could marry her brother. That shattered the already scattered and missing pieces of my heart. How horribly it was that she could marry some other prince. How terrible it was to hear someone suggest that America could fall in love again. I didn't know the extent of the relationship with Officer Aspen Leger at this point, now that Officer Alexander had told me things I hadn't heard before, but if it was nothing there was a good chance that she could start flirting with Daniele. He always had a swarm of girls around him, flirting with him but I had never seen him show interest like he did with America. I put down my fork and forced myself to swallow the bite I had already placed in my mouth. But no part of me had any appetite left to eat dinner or dessert.

I could almost feel Kriss glaring daggers at me as she dropped my hand. Kriss! I forced myself to rip my eyes off America once again, just as Prince Daniele came back to the table. I felt absolutely terrible for what I was doing to her. She didn't deserve this. I tried to re-center myself back on our evening. Maybe when I made my toast and danced with her it would make her feel better. I smiled at her and even though she smiled back, her eyes looked sadly at me.

As everyone else finished their meals, I lightly tapped my spoon against my wine glass and stood to start making my toast. "First off I would like to thank all of you for coming to celebrate this joyous occasion. Not only do we have a new alliance but I am no longer the most suitable bachelor in Illéa," I teased not sure how to start this night of toasting and dancing but everyone seemed to react well to my joke.

"First off I would just like to thank Lady America for agreeing to become diplomat to the Italians. It is such an honor to be working with you and I know that you will do a fantastic job at the task. You are smart and cunning and you will be able to work well with the Italians who hold very similar qualities to yourself." I saw a small blush fill her cheeks and couldn't help but to smile brightly at that. At least there was still a part of her that I could charm. I needed to know that, I needed to be reminded that I had been able to help someone fall in love and trust me and they had done the same for me. Perhaps it would be the reminder of that simple fact that helped me to fall in love with Kriss.  
"Second, I would like to thank the Italians for giving me the honor of making this my first official act as," I froze for a moment. I couldn't say king I wasn't quite there yet. But I didn't know where to take that sentence as I had already started it. I looked to my mother for guidance and she simply gesture to take a deep breath before I continued. It was that simple action which helped me think straight about how to continue. "An adult and acting authority feature in our beautiful country. I hope that it has helped place trust in me throughout our country and that everyone can see that I will be just as good of a king as my father."

I then smiled down at Kriss and lightly took her hand. I looked across a few tables over at her family and smiled at them as well. "I would like to thank the Ambers family for giving me permission to marry their daughter. It is such a great honor to have them here tonight, celebrating this royal engagement. They are truly wonderful people who have bred quite the extraordinary young Princess. I am so honored that Kriss has agreed to become my wife. I know that I might not always have acted in the best ways to her but I promise you now, my dear, that I will do everything I can to make you happy for the rest of your life." I bit the inside of my cheek finishing on that note as I thought it would be wonderful if only she could be able to do that for me as a certainty.

Everyone clapped at my speeches, even America, but I could tell that hers were a bit slower. Kriss seemed to accept my apology and understand why it was actually being given, instead of everyone else who just assumed it was things that had gone on during the Selection. Chocolate lava cake followed my toasts and then everyone was escorted inside the palace for the ball. I had invited Marlee and Carter to join us then, wanting to show everyone that they had received my fullest forgiveness and would be given their former jobs back. I wasn't sure what Marlee would do now that she was a Two but I knew that they would figure something out.

Kriss and I had our first dance to the song 'The One' by some old band I had never heard of before (The Backstreet Boys, apparently it was the first dance song at my father and mothers' reception after their wedding so I had allowed for it to be the one that I danced to Kriss with). We moved together gracefully and slowly to the soft beat. Others started to join us and I found myself looking over at America and Daniele. I felt instant jealousy but managed to contain it much better this time. I drifted with Kriss as I listened to the lyrics to carry me away from thoughts about America.

_There you were, wild and free_

_Reaching out like you needed me_

_The helping hand to make it right_

_I am holding you all through the night_

_I'll be the one, I'll be the one_

_Who will make all your sorrows undone_

_I'll be the light, I'll be the light_

_When you feel like there's nowhere to run_

I couldn't help but feel like the words to this song were solely written for me and America. But as I continued to dance with Kriss and watch her over my shoulder, I knew that this was the life we were going to live. I would marry Kriss and she would have my children. America would fall in love again and become someone else's wife, someone else's mother of their children. She would be happy and I would have to learn to be happy as well. There was no other way but to move on. In all of our stubbornness and fighting, I had lost her for good and I had finally managed to accept that. I had put back the pieces of her heart that Aspen Leger had broken and now someone else would put them back into place from how I had broken them. That was to be the end of our story.

_I'll be the one, I'll be the light_

_Where you can run to make it all right_

_I'll be the light_

_I'll be the one, I'll be the light_

_Where you can run to make it all right_

_I'll be the one to hold you_

_And make sure that you'll be all right_

_I'll be the one_

I leaned down and kissed Kriss softly on her forehead. I had failed America but I still had time to make things right with my fiancée. There was still time to make sure we had a happy life together if I was willing to change my attitude and be a better man for her.

**America's POV**

It was nice to see Marlee and Carter welcomed back into the good graces of the kingdom at the reception ball. But I had to admit to myself that watching Kriss and Maxon dance all night to love songs made me more than sick to my stomach. By the end of the night I was a little tipsy and Daniele offered to walk me back to my room. He held his arm around my shoulder simply to keep me from walking into something or falling down in my drunken state. He opened my door to find that Celeste was still sitting there on my bed. It was the only time that he let me go during that entire walk.

She smiled up at him and helped me over to my bed. Then it was almost as if they had forgotten that I was in the room as they started to chat away. I don't remember when or if they left my room as I passed out and didn't wake up until the next morning when I had to get up and start dealing with the consequences of my drinking. Hangovers weren't pretty, or so I had heard, and now I was learning that first hand. It was only then that I heard Celeste come in behind me. She must have stayed the night in my room then. I could almost hear how much her head was shaking at me as she looked down at me in my newest pathetic and weakest state. But she still held back my hair and pulled it away from my face as I continued to throw up into my toilet.

"That prince is awfully cute, don't get any ideas though." She teased lightly. So there was a real spark that had been there between them last night. I smiled softly, happy for her, before going back to throwing up once again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's the update! Reviewers 148, 149, and 150 (if we reach that with this chapter) will get a sneak peek of Chapter 10! You guys rock thanks for all the encouragement and support! I've got the majority of this story mapped out in my head but I'm also wondering if you guys would want to read a story about Clarkson's Selection that I have been thinking about writing (after this story is finished)? Please comment your opinions on that in your reviews, if you wouldn't mind doing so. **

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**Maxon's POV**

It had been almost a week since the Southern Rebels had attacked. The funeral had gone rather smoothly but I couldn't remember most of it. All I could remember was the hangover I had trying to cope with all the emotions I was running from. I had felt nothing but anger at my father's death and that he had never been able to prove me wrong about the monster he was. Then again the only reason I had ever wished that was so I could help to change the country without him pressing me to do one thing over the other. Then there was a little touch of joy that I was feeling. Happiness that I could never be hurt again, that my family would be safe, that I would be able to change this country for the better without his permission. It had been an endless roller-coaster that day and Kriss had handled the preparations and my behavior outstandingly. I appreciated how supportive she had been throughout the whole thing. But it also made me drink more that she thought my father was a great man and someday she would have to learn about the scars on my back. Perhaps I could make up some lie about how I had been attacked by a rebel and then saved by someone else before they could finish the job.

The next thing on our agenda was Officer Leger's promotion to Captain of the Palace Guards. I hadn't spoken to him about the promotion ceremony but I had been avoiding making eye contact with him since I found out the truth between him and America. To be honest, I had been avoiding both of them. Prince Daniele had stayed to start putting America through her training as diplomat and after the way he had been acting towards her at the reception I couldn't help but boil anytime I was around her. It really just irritated me that everyone else was now free to try and sway her attention but me.

I continued to walk down the hall waiting for the Ceremony to start. I saw him at the other end and decided that it was time I approached him and thanked him for saving my mother, as well as congratulate him on his promotion. Part of me still wondered if America would be waiting for him in the sidelines, cheering on his successes and getting the benefits that would come with his new title. I knew that he still loved her even if she had fallen in love with me. Of course he would have fought for her, of course he would have confronted her after I left if he thought that I had slept with her. I knew how hormones worked from personal experience now. There was no way there weren't nights that he had wanted to be that intimate with America himself. If that thought—that America was going to be intimate with another man—had haunted me then it must have broken at him too. He would have wanted to know it wasn't true, that perhaps there was still a chance for them to be together.

I walked through the hallway towards him but his back was still turned to me. I heard a woman's soft laughter as I got closer to his room. _America? _No. Not America. That laughter didn't belong to her. I shrugged it off and continued to walk towards him and saw that it was only a maid. I coughed softly behind the two of them in order to get their attention. "Officer Leger, if I may have a moment of your time."

"Of course you're Highness," He replied and stepped away from the maid for a moment. She turned and walked out of his room past of us smiling softly up at him. I wondered what that was about. Maybe he was just a flirt. I tried to remember my conversations with America about him and thought she might have mentioned seeing him with another girl when she left for the Selection. My hand folded up into a small fist at the idea. If he was going to go back after America now that I was out of the picture, he needed to be faithful to her.

"I just wanted to congratulate you for your promotion. And personally thank you for what you did. Saving my mother I mean. And taking control of the Great Room the day of the attack." I spat out, not sure how I was supposed to be talking to him. The last words I had said to him after all were that he needed to get out of my sight before I sent him to New Asia to die. I hoped that there wasn't any bad blood left between us about that or America.

"I was just doing my job, your Majesty. But I am honored to receive my new position." He gave me a half smile before I saw that his leg seemed to wobble a little. I had forgotten about the news of his injury but it wouldn't keep him from doing his new duties as Captain. I nodded in his direction and turned out of his room without much else to say. Part of me just wanted to get away and forget that he was the reason I wasn't engaged to America but the other part of me that was finally learn to accept my actions just wanted to get away from the awkwardness of it all. How did two men who had loved the same woman for so long communicate and work together? I didn't know but I knew that I was going to have to learn no matter what. There was no turning back from his promotion, too many people knew what he had done.

**America's POV**

The last few days had been spent learning about different ways to be a diplomat. There were the procedures, the attitude, the basic knowledge of laws of Illéa and other countries, what diplomats liked being spoken to only as business partners and those that were friendly, and so on. When Daniele would release me from my teachings I spent most of my time alone. It seemed that from the moment he had laid eyes on Celeste he had been absolutely smitten by her beauty. I was glad that she had changed so much from the person I knew at the beginning of the Selection. She acted human and normal instead of being obsessed with his position in life. She was being the Celeste that had grown to be my friend and Daniele seemed to like that person enough to spend his own free time with her. However it seemed that he had been given the side task—probably by Nicoletta—to make it look as if we were bonding a little bit more than as co-workers. I shook my head at her feeling like she needed to make Maxon jealous of someone else. I didn't understand why she, Celeste, and Marlee were so keen on making him realize he had made the wrong choice. I had seen how Kriss had handled the funeral preparations. I wouldn't have been able to do that. I wouldn't have been able to do anything she would have to learn as princess and future queen. I was finally starting to accept that this was the way things were supposed to be in life.

Today Aspen would be promoted to Captain and I had promised Lucy she could come look through my dresses and blow him away. I wanted them both to be able to enjoy his special day and I knew that Lucy didn't have any proper ball gowns. As Aspen's new girl, I wanted her to shine and sparkle, looking just as important as he did throughout the Ceremony and looking like she belonged with him to those that would be judgmental about her being just a maid. It was luck that she had woken up at all a day after the Reception. The doctor's thought she had taken a turn for the worst and were prepared to give up on her but she pulled through. Every waking moment since then she had been at Aspen's side and I had seen bits and pieces of their romance. It was something beautiful and I don't think I had ever made him as happy as she did. This would be the first public thing that they attended together and I wanted my friend dressed to blow him away.

She picked a long, flowing, purple dress that was tucked away in the corner of my closest. I didn't think the color would ever work on me so I had sent it away anytime the girls had suggested it. However, the magenta color blended perfectly with her features and wasn't too tight that it would squeeze the wound in her side that was still healing. I smiled and walked towards the ceremony with her letting her carry on about how much she loved Aspen and how grateful she was that he had paid any attention to her at all.

The Ceremony started with the guards presenting the flag of Illéa and a short speech by Maxon to explain the high honor that would be received by Aspen as well as the story of how he came to earn such a title after little time on the force. Next one of the other Captain's, one who had presided over Aspen during his training, talked about how well he had always done no matter what task he was given and how he was honored for him to become his equal in ranks so that they would be able to work together more often. Following this, Aspen was given his new badges to place on his jacket that showed off his position. I looked over at the pride beaming out of Lucy's eyes and lightly reached out for her hand to give her a light push towards the stage.

"Go on," I whispered to her. She shook her head looking hesitant at me. "He loves you so much Lucy. This is your moment just as much as his. Go on," I smiled at her managing to place my hands lightly on her back to give her a gentle nudge up the stage.

She finally took it and walked slowly up the stairs. I saw Aspen turn out after saluting Maxon and his fellow officers to see him smiling brightly at Lucy coming to stand beside him as the photos were snapped. He took her arm firmly in his and broadcasted their relationship boldly and proudly to the rest of the world. It was in that moment that I truly realized the only feelings I had left for Aspen were of the same kind that I had for my siblings.

Aspen looked between Lucy, Maxon, and the crowd almost as if he were searching for a sign. He smiled back at Lucy as the photography started to die down. In that moment, as if he were throwing caution to the wind he got down on one knee and proposed to her. I saw her start to wipe the tears from her eyes and squeal with happiness. But my thoughts had moved past them as I saw and felt a pair of beautiful brown eyes flicking onto me and then away again. I realized that Maxon was looking between me and Aspen, dazed and confused. Even though I was surprised at first about their relationship and the fact that he had already moved on, I was happy for them. But I didn't quite understand why Maxon was so upset. He had choose not to listen to either of us. He didn't give me time to explain that I hadn't been seeing Aspen anymore. He had picked this route and I had absolutely no sympathy for whatever he was feeling. After all, he was engaged to Kriss now and I could almost feel her rolling her eyes at me as Maxon looked at me. I tried to shake my head at her, wanting to know that I wasn't going to split them up but she didn't seem to care for conformation. However, unlike at the Reception, her hand didn't drop his which meant that he must have been able to help her realize that he despised me for lying to him.

**Maxon's POV**

After the Ceremony and the dinner had begun, I walked through the crowds of people needing some space from everything that I had just witnessed. Whatever Captain Leger had been talking to or doing with America outside of her room that day, it hadn't been romantic. I ran a hand through my hair trying to hide all of the raging emotions that were flooding through me. All I could come back to was how much of an absolute idiot I had been not to listen to what they had to say. Luckily I had been able to leave Kriss chatting with Officer Alexander and a few others while I walked through the crowds trying to accept more of my rash decision. No matter where I turned, my behavior that day was coming back to haunt me. It hurt that I had done such terrible things—well, acted in such a terrible way—and for nothing. America had said very little to me in the last few days and I had hoped that we would at least have been able to become friendly again. But at last I was realizing just how much I had blown up everything good that had ever been between us by being a complete asshole.

I saw her across the room and looked behind me to ensure that I was far away from Kriss's line of vision. I didn't want her to think that I was trying to win America back. Things had been rough between us and with our coronations just a few weeks away, I didn't want to stir up any bad blood. But I wanted to apologize to America. I wanted to let her know how truly sorry I was about everything I had been saying and doing to break her the way she had broken me.

"Lady America," I whispered sadly and softly, finally reaching her. She looked up at me, almost surprised by my tone.

"Prince Maxon." She replied. It was almost too cold for me to handle. I winced at her calling me prince. She had never done that before. I didn't want her to start now.

"America," I whispered, feeling the tears start to pool in the back of my head. I didn't want to cry but being here in this moment brought up such hard feelings that I didn't want to deal with either. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for how I treated you that morning and every day since. Whatever I said to you out of hate I take it all back. I hope that we can be friends."

She looked up at me, fire flaming in her eyes. It was her fighting spirit and I knew that she wasn't going to reply very nicely to me. "It wasn't right, Prince Maxon. It wasn't right that you were so cold to me over things that you didn't even understand. You were awful." She started, spitting each and every word out of her mouth with venom. She pointed to another corner of the room where Daniele was sat with Celeste, their fingers intertwined. "First off, she's changed, Prince Maxon. She changed a few months ago and that's why we became friends." I opened my mouth to speak but she raised her hand to continue. "Yes, you should have let me explain that morning but it's too late now. Whatever we had, it's gone. Whatever friendship we could have had, well, I feel like that's been placed on hold until I can win over your future wife again. Don't even make me get into how hard that's going to be. Stop looking at me like you've lost something, Prince Maxon. You made your decision and that's what you are going to stick to, do you understand? You need to start treating her better. She's done nothing to deserve you looking at me with regret. You knew what you were doing that morning."

I nodded sadly at her and tried to come up with the words to help it all go away. I couldn't though, they wouldn't come. "America, I'm so sorry," I whispered again. "I know I threw away what we had out of anger but you could have told me the truth."

"I'm aware of that Prince Maxon, I'm aware of my own guilt. But it changes nothing. I know that I was wrong not to tell you who Aspen was and what I was confused about for the longest time. But I told you I would earn back your trust and that's when I stopped seeing him. I had to win you. You told me I was leaving with a new caste and a man who still wanted me but you were wrong. He had moved on too. All he wanted that morning was to know why I had slept with you. Why I had given you that before we had been married because he was worried that someone would find out and something would happen to me. He was looking out for my best interest and that was it. He didn't want me to lose the person I was before I came here!"

I nodded, softly and sadly. "I know that and I don't regret my decision, America. But I still have feelings for you that I haven't been able to get rid of yet." I threw out the lie and instantly regretted it. That was probably the most contradicting statement I had ever said. How could I be glad about my decision but still have feelings for her? I saw her trying to sort out which one was the lie in her head and knew what she would believe. Of course she would think that the second was. I knew she had always been fragile about her self-worth when it came to me. I looked back up at her and saw that the fire had died from her eyes.

"Then we can't be friends yet, Prince Maxon. Perhaps after the wedding." And with that, she turned around and walked away from me. I heard her sob softly when she thought she was out of my hearing range. I turned away from the conversation we had just had and walked back to Kriss, pulling her away from her conversations and requesting that some music start to be played in honor of Aspen's engagement and pulled my fiancée close to me, fighting back my tears.

This was finally the real end of things between America and I.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry this chapter is a bit on the shorter side. I decided to have a little bit of a father's theme in this chapter, since it's Father's Day and all. Those of you who won sneak peeks will be getting them for either chapters 11 or 12 I'm just not sure which right now. There wasn't anything overly crazy to send to you all with chapter 10 so I decided to wait. Guest Emma I will need some way (either a fan fiction preferably account or email) to send you yours if you want one.**

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**Maxon's POV**

Coronation was coming up quickly. It had been decided that I would be crowned king on the second Friday of January while Kriss would be crowned that Saturday. While that left two weeks for us to plan everything, there were still a hundred other things that we had been tasked with. While I had plans to end the war in New Asia, they had been put on hold to decide how to compensate the families who had lost their soldier to the Southern Rebels. While their final pay checks had already been sent out, there was to be a flag and additional money set out to help provide for one month's worth of expenses. We had to decide how much those were going to be and whether or not we thought that certain caste members were asking for too much.

I remembered my first meeting like this and how I could only think about how much money I spent in one day. One family had asked for those wages to get through an entire month. I had paid the same amount for one simple three piece suit and a pair of shoes for my twelfth birthday. I remembered how angry it had made my father when I spoke up and questioned why we couldn't give them what they were asking for. It had seemed like such little money to spend and I thought for sure that I could convince the counsel to pay it out. I remembered the look in his eyes as I questioned how we didn't have enough money to pay them their compensation and how they could have lied when it seemed like a fairly good amount for a Six to be making.

I would never forget the way that he had glared at me. There was such anger in his eyes that I would be making such a strong argument instead of listening to what he had to say. He was king and I had only barely began to start coming to these meetings. He had waived me off from speaking and reminded me that Sixes were accustomed to making much less than we did as Ones and that was the unfortunate way that things had to be. He apologized saying that I didn't know what I was talking about and overestimated how much money had been spent on the suit that I was wearing. He said I was young and must have misheard or read the payment stub and waved the counsel off in a laugh. It was decided that the family of Sixes request was too high and they would be given half.

At the time things had started to fall apart between us and New Asia. We had needed the money to start putting funds aside in case there was a war. I had learned that was one of the reasons that the old country had fallen apart. They had spent money they didn't have waging long and painful wars and it ended us up where we were then. It had become policy that if relationships started to dwindle that we would begin to budget for a war so there was money set aside, rather than waiting for the war to actually start. If we ended up not starting a war, then the money would be sent back to different budgets equally. That was a lesson that I learned the hard way.

After the meeting my father had dragged me into his study quietly but with fierce anger shining through his eyes. He had told me to take off my shirt and turn towards the wall. I didn't know what was going to happen but I knew that it wasn't going to end well for me. I heard a drawer open and close before my father told me how disappointed he was with me. I tried to tell him that I was sorry but the words were cut out of my mouth by a swift slap across my back and a cracking noise. I cried out in pain, completely unsure of how to feel or react to the pain. I begged him not to do it again but he did anyway.

That was the first time that he had ever whipped me. I had received two that time and a solid threat not to speak of it to my mother. He didn't want me to upset her over punishment that I deserved, or so he had said. He had an old doctor that was on the brink of retirement brought to my room to fix me up and also threatened him to silence as well. I had been kept in my room the rest of the day and that was the end of it. Or at least for that first night. I had slept in agonizing pain and cried the entire night. That was when I knew that I wouldn't be able to make him proud, or at least with my own ideas. I would have to do what he did, follow exactly in his footsteps in order to get his approval as king.

I didn't know what I was ever going to tell Kriss about my scars. She like most of the others in my life knew—or at least thought—that my father was a saint and a wonderful king. No one really knew him the way I did. America had admired my strength at being able to take all of these scars. She had not shuddered or doubted my story for one second. Perhaps Kriss would believe that there had been some tragic accident quicker than she would that my father was cruel and inflicted pain on me. Even if the story seemed implausible, she would probably believe it much faster or at least want to believe that it was the truth.

I walked down the halls to my war meeting. It was the only one I had left after the one for the coronation and it was going to be my first chance to state my plans for ending the war in New Asia, as well as to tell them what the budget would be for all those who had lost their family members to the Southerners. I didn't have a big course of action concerning what we would do about the Southerners themselves yet because I had been unable to meet with August. He had told me that the Northerners wanted America or someone else to become my queen and I just had to hope that someone else was Kriss. I needed them to remain on our side and become a part of the Royal Army. With time I would dissolve the Caste System and they would stay on our side. But for now, the war in New Asia would be keeping all of that budget so it had to be my first priority.

"Gentlemen," I said was a commanding voice which gathered all of their attention as I sat at the head of the table. They looked up at me the moment I had opened my mouth and I was proud that I was able to take control of the room. "I have just come from the budgeting meeting and I have the answer to how much money we can send out to each family."

"Thank you for doing this, Prince Maxon," Saxton, who was the head of the budgeting meetings started off. "We believe that we have set aside $500 for each Five, $400 for each Six, and $200 for each Seven that was killed at their stations but we would just like for these numbers to be confirmed, sir."

"You would be incorrect about those figures, Saxton. You see, I have just come from the meeting about funds, as I stated when I entered, and I know that more can be afforded to send off to these families. For instance, I know that many of them will not have any other source of income coming in for a while. They need money to get through until then. I propose $3000 for each family."

Jaws dropped upon the figure being announced. For the seven people who were killed, that would be a total of $21,000. That was two months' worth of the budget for the war in New Asia. I smiled proudly to myself. While the money wouldn't be paid out until the end of March or April, it would be paid out exactly as I had said. Until then they would receive enough money for food and basic necessities in order to survive

"I'm sorry your Majesty, the funds are just too much."

"You are wrong, Saxton. I have found a way that will help us to end the war in New Asia. You see, we will send the money that should have been yours to send to the troops to those families. With our new treaty with Italy, we will be able to show them that we are ready to pull out and change will be brought to our country. We will be able to have peace for the first time in year's gentlemen, peace which is something we need in the light of the Southerner attacks getting worse by the day."

The room was silent for a few minutes. My heart pounded while I waited for the sentencing to be decided and voted on. It was then that a few scars on my back started to itch and I couldn't help but wonder how many lashes I would have gotten for this proposal. However, it was then that Saxton called me back to hear the decision on my vote.

"Four to Nine, your Majesty. We will proceed with the mission to end the war in New Asia as you have stated. Troops will begin to stop being shipped out and we will prepare for a trip to New Asia. A draft of the message will be started so they know we are coming to discuss peace. But what changes do you think they will agree to sir?"

"We will end the Caste System. I have been meeting with the Northern Rebels who have agreed to assist us if this were to become the case. Italy has also agreed to come to our aid if New Asia decides to continue the war instead of entering a peace agreement."

**America's POV**

I walked through the hallways to my first meeting of the day. I would be meeting with Daniele to walk through a practice delegate meeting and the next day I would officially be able to start my new job. It hadn't been much training but he had insisted that I would learn the most on my new job rather than through lessons. He would be there to guide me through the first four months and then he would be returning to Italy and we would communicate through the phone and occasional visits. I didn't know what else I was going to be doing if I was just supposed to be a delegate to Italy though. I didn't think it really mattered all that much, at least not for the next four months or so.

I walked into my meeting and began to flick through the pile of papers Daniele had left for me. I guessed that Daniele hadn't finished his breakfast with Celeste at the time he thought he would. I smiled softly happy for her. If she were to marry a diplomat from Italy there would be purpose in her life. There would be a man she truly loved, the prospect of a family, and a whole new life waiting for her to grasp after she could no longer model. There would be no need for her to worry that her life would dwindle away after. I was slightly jealous of her for that, worried that one day Italy would no longer need me. Perhaps then I would be able to go back to singing only and just do that on a more professional level.

The words on the pages threw me off. It was in Maxon's handwriting and was dated for the day before. There were real words put on these pages, not just scribbles of what used to be or little thoughts that had passed through his mind as policy. These were plans to dissolve the castes. These were plans to have the Italians and Northern Rebels come with us to New Asia to end that war so we could focus on the problem of the Southerners and get rid of all the castes. I had inspired these plans. In that moment it gave me an inch of hope. Not only had my father said I would always be a princess and important to him I knew that I could keep inspiring policy and changes in the country to help it become great.

"Maxon gave me those," Daniele stated as he sat down to begin discussing the plans with me. "This is what we will get prepared for, America. The Italian government is ready to back you up and Nicoletta has spoken a little to the Northerners to ensure that they also will be willing to work with this plan." I nodded up at him. "You will be a very good delegate, America, as everyone has kept telling you." He sat down and started walking me through Maxon's plans. I had changed him for the better and I was proud of the man that was going to become king.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for the long wait, I've been insanely busy lately and haven't had much time to write. I promise I'll try and update sooner next time thought! :) Sorry if this seems like more filler, it just needs to happen in order to form some back story for future chapters. Thanks for the nonstop support and I hope that you are all still enjoying my story. Also, if it's not too much to ask I would love it if you would check out my new story The Hidden Truth and tell me what you all think about it. :) Anyway, enjoy! **

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**Maxon's POV**

A coffee cup dropped to the ground. Everyone's eyes looked wild with relief or anger mixed up with them. They were thrown off my by announcement that I wanted to end the castes. I wasn't expecting anything else. My father would have never suggested such a thing and this was only the first day back to our meetings. There was no way that they would have been prepared for this. I leaned back in my seat waiting for them to tell me what I was going to do. Saxton looked completely lost for words as he started to rub his temple, his lips slowly moving and then stopping. He didn't looked at me but he would at everyone else in the room.

"_Prince _Maxon," DeLisle started looking me dead in the eyes. "That would make some of the other castes very angry and confused. While we all know that you are trying to get the lower castes some help that's not really something that we can do right now." I looked over at him. He had a glare in his eyes. It was easy for people like him not to understand why this had to happen. He had always been a Two. Even if he had been a poorer Two, he had gained favor with the Royal family and now would never have to want for anything ever again. Other castes didn't have that luxury. America had taught me that.

"Everyone will become more equal, DeLisle. I have a plan to do all of this slowly so that the change isn't too much for any one of the castes. But, it is going to happen. This needs to happen." There were whispers amongst the politicians. While I had overall say, or I would once I was king, but without their support my plans wouldn't really go anywhere.

"It's a good idea," Saxton whispered. "We always knew that this country needed a little bit of change if we were going to ever stop being attacked by the Rebels. But I'm not sure about your plan to dissolve the caste system, Maxon. It'll take a lot of planning and time. Many more meetings. It's not a decision we can make right now or even really vote on. We'll have to go through several steps and processes before we can decide if it is even possible."

"I understand that, Saxton, but I have been brainstorming my own ideas and—"

"That is wonderful, Prince Maxon, but I agree with Saxton. Until we can look through all of the planning you have already done and we do some more as a team effort, we will never be able to go anywhere. We'll have to meet again when you can bring those plans and decide what we are going to do from there," Emmert interjected. I nodded my head slowly.

"I understand what you are all saying but we need to have change in this country, as Saxton was saying. This will prove to be beneficial for everyone, I promise," I stated looking directly at DeLisle. He was still clearly annoyed by my suggestion as were several others. "We have been blessed with privilege for far too long while others suffer. They work harder than we do and go nights without food and heat. Bare necessities that we all take for granted," I finished looking at one of the diplomats who was sending his coffee away without finishing half of it.

More whispers. How hard was it for them to understand that people needed to have their needs met? I wanted to be a better king and lead my country into a better age. It would take a lot of time and effort but we would eventually find a way to get there. Saxton looked at me and nodded, which told me that I needed to leave the meeting where it was if I didn't want to start anymore of an uproar. I nodded and looked amongst those faces who wanted to support me but were afraid to those who were unsure and back to those who wanted to spit in my face.

"Meeting adjourned," I whispered as I stood from my seat. Everyone watched in silence as I walked out of the conference room and walked down the hallway. Lunchtime I decided. I needed a break from people and from my responsibilities. After all there would be no escape once I was crowned king. However, I didn't have much of an appetite and didn't know what to do with myself. I knew that I needed to kill an hour of time until my next meeting and decided to wonder around, lost in my thoughts.

Somehow I found myself inside of the throne room. I reminded myself that I only had twenty minutes before I was meeting Kriss to discuss coronation and run through how the ceremony would go. After, we would go to the jewelers and exchange her ring and pick out what she wanted her tiara to look like. It was tradition for the first crown that a king had to be the last one that his father had. For me that meant that I would get my father's crown from when he turned forty. On my thirtieth birthday, I would receive my first crown. I was secretly grateful for that tradition so I didn't have to pay that much attention while we were looking around. I had always hoped that I would be doing this with America and now I had to learn how to move past that dream. I was doing much better with everything, or so I hoped that I was, and I was looking forward to the dinner that I had planned with Kriss after we finalized the plans for the coronation.

I ran my fingers across the arm rest of my father's throne. There were so many times that I had seen him sitting here and imagined myself in his shoes. I always thought that he would be pulling the strings and now I had the opportunity to see what kind of king I was going to be all by myself. He would have punished me far beyond imagination for what I had suggested today, especially since I was engaged to Kriss and not America. I didn't think I would be able to protect her this time had my father still been alive. He would have blamed her for changing me and making me say stupid things like this. That I had to be grateful for. However, my anger got the best of me and I picked up the nearest object—a small stand that had once held a vase of my mother's favorite flowers—and threw it at his throne. He had made me so miserable for my entire life and now I was going to have to deal with the people who had made him happy, who sat back quietly and did what he wanted them to do. This whole plan of mine was going to cause all sorts of revolts before word even left the palace.

I ran my hands through my hair and started to pace. How was I ever going to convince the Illéan diplomats that we needed this change? I knew what my plan was but they weren't going to give me a chance. They were going to act exactly like my father about this and that was the last thing that I needed. I was trying to run a whole country and I didn't think that I was ready. I hadn't had nearly enough training because I had never actually been trusted but now I didn't have a choice. I wished that I could through it all away and just be a Five, running around snapping pictures of whatever I felt like. But it wasn't meant to be that way.

I wondered if I could get a glass of whiskey brought to me. I had only gotten drunk out of anger once and I had never wished more than I did now that I could throw the rest of my responsibilities away for the day and get drunk off my face. In that moment I missed hearing the door open and wouldn't have noticed that someone else was in the room until Kriss' arms found my waist, hugging me from behind. I relaxed back against her. It felt good to be hugged, good to be held and be able to fall against someone when I was on my breaking point.

"Hello, my dear," I whispered as I turned around and kissed her forehead. She smiled up at me before lightly pulling away and opting to just hold my hand. We hadn't spoken much in the past few days. Not only had our schedules kept us apart but I could tell that she was still annoyed about how I was acting when America was around. But today all seemed to have been forgiven and she was acting in a fairly good mood. I guessed that her training with Sylvia had gone much better than my meetings with Saxton.

"Hello, my prince," she smiled as she lightly kissed my hand. "The jeweler is ready for us. If you still want to go with me that is."

"Of course I do, I wanted to give you a better ring, one that suits you more. And I want to be there to get a glimpse of what you are going to be wearing on coronation day since I don't get to see you in your dress. Superstitions," I said shaking my head teasingly trying to show all of my disappointment. She laughed and I was glad to see this new air between us. At least if we were getting along I didn't have much to worry about where she was concerned.

I wrapped her arm lightly in mine and started to walk down the hallway with her. I had a guard order a car and head down to meet us at the palace exit. The jeweler's was just down the road of the palace, within the pathway of leaving the hill actually. But it was still nice to be able to take Kriss for a short car ride so we could just lean into each other and relax for a few moments. I was insanely grateful about how reliable she was and how hard that she was working. I needed that all the help I could get in my path to become a great king. Powerful and strong friends were the only way I was going to make change in the country and Kriss would be something important to have around, fighting my battles by my side. She was intelligent and that would be helpful in making all of these changes. Her opinions would help me with my reasons and I knew that together we would be able to make those changes. I thought that perhaps I would put her over the educational department so we could help the castes understand why things had to change and cope with the changes that were coming their way.

Once we walked through the doors, Kriss started looking through photos of old crowns that the past queens had picked. She ignored the rings for the most part and for that I was grateful. I didn't know if I could scrape the ring that I had taken so much time to design. I smiled over at her as she flipped through the pictures and designs that had been specifically made for her. She ended up picking a simple silver one, the middle holding a small loop of diamonds and leaning back against her head the demonstration crown looked absolutely lovely. I couldn't deny that it made her shine no matter if the old me would have wanted to. She started talking up the designer to make a few alterations and I sat back and watched quietly, looking around at some of the old crowns that were on display for ideas of the one I would or might want someday.

**America's POV**

"And you never leave a trade with?"

"Making yourself or the other party feel like they missed out on what they wanted. You don't want to leave anyone feeling like the other owes them more than what they received or you'll cause grudges and future problems."

"Correct, Ms. Singer," Daniele said smiling at me. He leaned down to open up the next file when there was a knock at the door and in walked Celeste. "And that is your training completed for the day." Clearly they had a date for the evening. I smiled softly up at her. It sucked that I hadn't seen her for a while but I was happy that she was finally settling in to a really great relationship. I planned on walking around the gardens for a little bit and then looking through the plans that Maxon had left for me anyway.

"America, why don't you come on a double date with us?" Celeste said smiling over at me. At first I couldn't believe that she was actually talking to me based on the fact that she had walked straight over to Daniele and had only given me a small smile and wave. I looked up at her finally realizing what she had said. Double date? Who was I supposed to ask? The only people I knew at the palace were either engaged or involved in a relationship with someone else and I had spent my time convincing myself that breaking up an engagement wasn't something that I wanted to be known for.

"I don't know I'm sure Daniele would want you alone," I said, giving her a small eyebrow wiggle trying to be as suggestive as I could. Luckily Daniele wasn't paying much attention as he packed up his things but Celeste managed to blush a little bit.

"He doesn't mind, do you Daniele?" She said, looking over at him with a small puppy pout. It was as if she already had him wrapped around her finger—but she wasn't manipulative to get that anymore.

"It could be fun."

"Who would I even go with Celeste?"

"Scott," she replied smiling. I looked up at her and gave her a confused look. I didn't know anybody by that name. "Officer Alexander." Great, Maxon's personal guard and someone who seemed to be his friend. As if I needed another reason to have him angry at me. I looked up at Celeste about ready to say no when she cut me off. "Come on Five, he's a Two that's much better than anything you could have gotten lying around at your house before you came here. Besides, it's just dinner and you deserve to have a little bit of fun. I'm not telling you to start writing your wedding vows."

"Fine," I replied lightly rolling my eyes as we started into the gardens. There already waiting for us was Officer Alexander, dressed down to a simple dress shirt and slacks. It was always weird to see what guards looked like when they weren't in uniform. He was normally a rather decorated soldier and seeing him in something so simple showed me that even higher ranking officers could be normal. He smiled and held out my chair for me to sit down, sitting across from me while Daniele and Celeste took the other two seats.

Dinner was a lovely three course meal but I could have cared less what we ate. It was simply nice to be surrounded by friends. I hadn't been able to see much of Aspen or Lucy as they were busy planning their wedding. It was going to happen in the early weeks of February so they had a lot to plan. I had lost my friendship with Maxon after our last argument at the promotion ceremony but I didn't know if I was ready to be around him. I had seen him and my heart didn't skip a beat any more like it used to. At least the plan to get over him was going smoothly. Kriss still avoided me, often turning down hallways or opening doors to rooms I knew she wasn't supposed to be headed towards so we wouldn't have to have a conversation. Hopefully soon I could show her that I still wanted to be friends but for now I could understand her hurt and inability to trust me. Time heals all wounds or at least I really hoped it would.

After dinner, Scott offered to walk me back to my room and I agreed, wanting Celeste and Daniele to have some time to their selves. I knew how important it was to have time as a couple and I hoped they would work out. She had the opportunity to start a new life and that was something I really wanted for her. We started to talk on our walk back and he lightly took my arm as he gave me an idea of how he had grown up. Regardless of having money, his father was constantly at work trying to gain the Royals trust so he could fulfill his ambition to become a high ranking officer. He explained that he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and that he knew that he could do a good job when the time was right.

I smiled over at him, glad for the distraction. My mind had been so full about all the things that I had to learn and everything I was trying to let go of. I had never been good at making friends but here in the palace new relationships were coming much easier to me. "Thanks for tonight," I said smiling up at him.

"You're welcome. I know it must have been hard for you when he picked someone else. Everyone could tell how close the two of you are."

I nodded softly not sure what to say. "I really just wanted him to be happy. If Kriss makes him happier than I do, well, that's what I want."

"So you're not the jealous ex-girlfriend type," he said smiling softly teasing me.

I went to respond when I saw Kriss and Maxon at the end of the hall. For the first time, my whole body didn't want to hurl but part of me started to fuel with a bit of jealousy. I didn't know if I would ever have anyone special in my life again or if I'd even want it. Scott didn't seem to notice the two of them walking down the hallway headed in our direction but not really noticing the two of us either. They weren't locked arm in arm like I would have thought but Maxon was lightly holding her hand and she was swinging them.

Before I could ask if we could head down the side hallway, Scott turned towards me, standing in front of me and stopping abruptly. He slipped his arms around my waist and before I could respond he had pulled me into a soft kiss. It wasn't overly passionate or hungry but it reminded me what I had been missing out on.

"Sorry, I just got carried away in the moment," he whispered under his breath as he pulled away.

I leaned in and kissed his cheek before heading back to my room deciding that I didn't want the company on the walk anymore. "It's alright, really," I said with a soft smile as I waved goodbye. It wasn't the most magical kiss I could remember but it woke up something inside of me. The part of me that knew it was alright to love.

**Maxon's POV**

My heart dropped when I saw America kissing Officer Alexander. She looked across the hall and then up at me. There was anger and hurt in her eyes and she pushed open the door to my study pointing her finger for me to follow. So much for a nice dinner just the two of us. "Kriss, it's not what you think?"

"It's exactly what I think Maxon. You still have feelings for her, you still want her!" She was almost shouting at me at this point.

"Kriss, please. I love you and I want to be with you. Yes I was in love with her too and there is still some lingering feelings that won't leave no matter how hard I try. I've told you that all before. You think if I hadn't picked you that it would have taken you two weeks to get over your feelings for me?"

"No Maxon but sometimes it doesn't even feel like you're trying. And if you don't want to try why don't you just ask me to leave so you can be with her again?" She looked close to tears and I tried to pull her into my arms. If tonight was any indication I had to work even harder to completely fall in love with Kriss, not just have some feelings for her. She pulled her arm away from me and didn't let me touch her.

"You don't want to be my princess?" My heart stopped working for a few moments. What was I going to do if she went home? I had already sent all of the other girls home, Celeste was moving on, America wouldn't speak to me, and there was no way that I wanted to marry Elise.

"No, I just need some space, Maxon. It's obvious to everyone that you still love her and that hurts. After I am crowned alongside you, I just want to go home for a week. Clear my head. That's all I'm asking for. I still love you, just please. Let me go see my family and friends."

"Okay," I whispered.


	12. Chapter 12

**I know that someone of you may think I'm pretty awful for keeping Maxerica apart for so long. There is still a lot that has to happen before any pairings are set and I'm not entirely sure who those pairings are going to be right now. Sometimes I'm very sure that it will be one couple but other days I wonder if I wouldn't minding seeing someone else end up with Maxon/America. I have a poll running on my profile page where you all can vote and decide what you would like and I promise, I will take that into consideration. However, if you want pure Maxerica from me please turn to my other story, The Hidden Truth (which I will be updating tomorrow). To all of you who have stuck with my story for the past 11 chapters (and will continue to read) I thank you so much for your reviews and constant support. I hope that you are still enjoying this story even if you don't like the pairings right now. There are some big things coming up in the next few chapters that some of you will really love. But, you guys make my day every time you leave a review and it really makes me want to keep updating as frequently as possible. You guys are simply 100% incredible!**

**The Devil Wears Westwood**

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**Maxon's POV**

Okay? None of this way okay. I couldn't believe what I had just agreed to. My people were going to look for me guidance and they were expecting me to have a queen. It wasn't that I didn't want to marry Kriss, my mind flashed back to just a few weeks ago when I did really enjoy her company on our wonderful date, it was just that I hadn't completely fallen in love with her yet. But I knew that I needed to and part of me wanted to be able to love again—it just wasn't coming as quickly or as easily as I had wanted it to. I looked up at her trying to think of what to say. I had to agree to her request, I really just wanted her to be happy but I wanted to be happy too. I was tired of being miserable all the time and not being able to move on. I walked towards her offering my hand to her. I was just going to have to try harder to be better to her between now and Saturday. Perhaps then she would want to come back shortly after her trip to Columbia.

"Kriss," I whispered softly, offering her my hand. "Would you like to go to dinner with me still?" She looked at me and back to my hand for a few moments, keeping hers almost stapled to her sides. Her fingers twitched slightly as if she were tempted to take my offer but something was holding her back. I kept it held out and she looked at me, shaking her head. "Please, Kriss. Maybe just some dessert or something?"

"Maxon, I really just want to go to bed." I nodded my head, turning to open the door for her. "But," she started making me turn around and look at her trying to be hopeful. "You can walk me to my room if you want to. I'd really appreciate it actually. I still jump at shadows since the last Rebel attack. I keep seeing all those people who get shot."

I smiled softly at her and went to wrap my arm around her shoulders. She shied away from the movement so I opted for trying to take her hand once again, which she finally let me do. This time I was lucky enough to actually be able to take it in mine as we walked down the hallway. However, there wasn't a spring in her step like there was after we got back from the jeweler. Instead, we just walked in silence our hands glued to our sides without any sign of real emotion or chemistry. Her eyes were glued on her shoes as we continued to walk and I tried to think of all the words I could say to try and make her feel better but there weren't any. When I had told America that I didn't do well with women when they were crying, I really should have told her that I didn't know how to handle women when they were upset at all. It's not that I didn't want to know how to comfort them, I just didn't. It wasn't something that I had been taught by my father—in fact I couldn't remember a single time that he had known what to do in order to comfort my mother.

When we reached Kriss' room, Scott was standing outside at his post. Seeing him made my blood boil and all I really wanted to do was throw a few punches at him. I knew that I didn't have any right to feel this way since I was the one that had thrown America away and I did have some feelings of love towards Kriss. I couldn't keep myself from glaring angrily at him however. He seemed to slowly back away from the door, trying his hardest not to look at me. His eyes fixed on Kriss for a moment and it was the first time that she looked up. She looked at the both of us and I could see the tears pooling in her eyes. No wonder she was upset, he had given me another reason to want America back and I hadn't been able to control myself. She shook her head sadly and walked into her room. I shut the door behind the two of us, still glaring daggers at Scott.

"Kriss, I'm still so sorry. I promise, please give me a chance to take you out for dinner before we have our coronation and your vacation to your home."

Kriss curled up on her bed refusing to look at me. But there wasn't any sobbing and I hoped that her tears hadn't fallen out of her eyes and that she could how terribly sorry I was for everything that I had caused. She refused to answer my question but I was still just as stubborn as she was. I wasn't going to leave this room without an answer and I wanted the answer to be yes. I sat down at her desk not wanting to push her limits. "Kriss, please. I am engaged to you. I want to be your husband and I want to be able to completely fall in love with you. Please give me the opportunity to give you the life that you deserve." Sometimes I felt so terrible that the words I said to her seemed to be such lies but I hoped there would be some truth to it someday. I wanted to be able to love and be happy with her. Time. That's what it was going to take. Time and more time. I felt terrible for needing that from her but I had to do this. I had a duty to my country to pick a wife and I had made my choice. Perhaps with our time apart I would grow to miss her the way I had missed America at Christmas and that would help to solve some of our problems.

"Yes, I'd…I'd love to Maxon. Like the old dates," she whispered softly. "Please, will you just go?"

"Yes, my dear." I turned and walked out of her room. "I'll have some dinner sent to your room." With that, I turned and walked out of her room. Scott was leaned against one of the walls looking up towards the ceiling. I remembered when kissing America would cause me to do that after I had retired to my own rooms or I had to go to meetings. I stood there in the hallway and glared at him. He was one of the few friends I had had my entire life. I had told him my feelings about America and he had taken me down to the jewelers to get the ring. Yet, here he was taking over. I had hoped that she truly loved me and was struggling to get over me just as much as I was her. But clearly she was having a much easier time and I couldn't help to be jealous of that, too.

"Prince Maxon," a voice said calling me back to the room. Scott's voice. I looked at him, still glued to the wall almost forcing a distance between us. "I'm sorry for whatever Lady Kriss is going through that has been making her so upset. I'm sure it must be hard for you to see your fiancée struggling so much."

"This life is tiring, Scott." I almost snapped back at him. He fell more back against the wall. "So," I said trying to cool down my temper. "You and Lady America seemed to be enjoying yourselves this evening."

His whole body seemed to twitch at the mention of her name. He almost looked as if he wanted to lunge forward and slam me against the wall, completely angered that I had noticed what was going on between the two of them. I didn't understand why there was so much anger in me asking about their date. I obviously wasn't competition anymore and he was free to date her now that she wasn't a part of the Selection. Yet, I could still see that his knuckles were whitening from the fist that he had formed and was trying so hard not to throw. I knew that I deserved it. I had thrown America away and now I was putting Kriss in endless misery. Somehow, I was going to make it up to her and be the best husband that I could possibly be but I had to figure out how I was going to finally be able to let America go first. If only I could take the trip with her and have some alone time with her.

"Listen here, Maxon. She was heartbroken and needed some time alone. Then Daniele said that she had been working really hard and that Celeste suggested that she have some time out away from work. I didn't mean to kiss her but I don't necessarily regret that it happened. But you need to get your damn act together and stop hurting Kriss with whatever fingers you have laying around for Lady America. _You _had the chance to pick her and you let some anger throw it away. _You _picked Kriss and you need to start treating her better!" He screamed, taking step after step closer to me so that he was almost yelling directly in my face. Never had he acted like this and the only person who had ever confronted me before like this was America, in the early days of my Selection.

I lightly pushed him back out of my face. Now that my father was gone, nobody was going to be able to treat me this way. I didn't mind him yelling at me, I knew that I deserved that too but he wasn't going to get confrontational with me. I wasn't going to stand for that. "I'm fully aware of my improper behavior towards my future wife. I am trying to make up for it. You knew that I was torn between the two of them for a really long time. It's not my fault that I have lingering feelings, you can't tell me you don't have feelings for that girl you liked for all those years. That is something that I am working on and I will find a way to treat Kriss better. It just won't be my fullest capability until I'm able to let go of America all the way."

He stepped back from me and went back to his post. "Just stop trying so hard, Maxon. You make it sound like it has to be this big and bold journey but it doesn't. Just let America go." I could tell that I had wounded him. He had lost that girl a few months before my Selection had started and it had been haunting him ever since. Girls threw themselves at his feet but he had never once made any moves or advances towards any of them. If America was going to help fix his broken heart, I should just let her. Or at least that is what a good friend would do.

"I'm sorry, Scott," I said as I turned around and headed back to my room for the evening. He just nodded as he melted back against the wall going back to performing his job.

**America's POV**

"And then what?"

"He kissed me. It wasn't anything big or even long but he kissed me," I repeated to Celeste and Marlee for the third time. I didn't know what to do or how to respond to what had transpired between us. In the moments that had passed since Officer Alexander and I had kissed, all I could think about was the night that Maxon had told me that I was going to be his wife. That I was going to be the one and that he had hoped that by sending all of the other girls home he had finally won my heart completely. That was the last time that I had felt anything remotely close to this and I didn't think that I had another chance with love. But there were clearly men who were still interested in me, as Celeste pointed out that there would be. I just didn't think that I was ready and I didn't want to hurt anyone else.

"You could let Maxon go," Marlee started slowly. "I know how much he meant to you but he isn't exactly on the market."

"If he's so in to you, why not give it a try? You don't have to be all over him but rebound is always good," Celeste said, rolling over on to sit up on my bed. Apparently it still wasn't growing on her how uncomfortable it was. I made a mental reminder to myself to find out what her bed felt like sometime if this one was as hard as stone.

Marlee rolled her eyes at Celeste's suggestion, which was almost what I wanted to do myself. I didn't want to play rebound like she must have used to with any of the boys she had dated before Maxon and Daniele had come into the picture. "I don't want to hurt or use anyone. I'm familiar with both types of pain and what it does to people. I still have feelings for Maxon, you both know that. But I'm not going to wreck his engagement over what we had. I'm not going to hurt Kriss like that, no matter how much she hates me or whether or not that's what she thinks I'm trying to do."

"Then be his friend," Marlee suggested. Celeste shook her head as if the safe bet were the dumbest idea that she had ever heard. "There's nothing wrong with friendship," she concluded looking Celeste dead in the eye. Sometimes, I figured, as much change could overcome a person, some things and behaviors would probably always stay the same.

"Be his friend, then." Celeste got up from the bed and smiled back at the two of us softly. "I'm going to get some proper beauty sleep, I have a breakfast date in the morning with Daniele and I'm going to look my absolute best," she said waiving goodnight to the both of us. I wondered if she still worried about people still seeing her as only beautiful and bringing nothing else to the table. I hoped that Daniele would help to show her otherwise and give her the future that she actually deserved. Marlee had gotten her cliché happily ever after with Carter and was now two months in to adding to that fairytale. I didn't want to be left out of the mix but I was afraid of what might happen if I started to play with someone else's emotions when I wasn't ready to move on. That was what Maxon had been forced to do with Kriss—or at least that was what it had seemed like during Aspen's promotion celebration and the reception dinner—and I wasn't blind to how much it was hurting her. If I could erase my past with him so that they could be happy, I thought sometimes that I actually would.

Marlee picked out a movie for us to watch and had one of the guards sneak an old television into my room. We finished off our night doing that, her staying with me since Carter was working as a guard again until Maxon found a new job for him.

**Maxon's POV  
**

I had blown off almost all of my meetings for the day in exchange to prepare dinner for Kriss. I had overseen the cooks making all of it and had decorated the gardens to as much perfection as they could possibly reach. I had stopped by her room twice to make sure that we were still going to be able to have this date and though a little reluctant at first, she had agreed that were still on the second time with a small smile on her face. I was happy that we were going to enjoy some time together and wanted it to increase whatever spark there was between us. I was sad at how much I was at the point of desperation, hoping and wishing that she would be able to help me fall endlessly in love with her. I hated that I had to try so hard but there wasn't much I could do about it anymore. I wanted to bring back those feelings that had risen inside of me the last time that we had enjoyed a private meal just the two of us and couldn't help but pray they would return stronger.

I walked down to her room to pick her up for our date. I couldn't help but admire how beautiful she looked in that strapless blue dress, silver heels showing from the small slit in the side. I lifted her hand to my lips and held her hand as I walked down to the gardens with her, telling her that I believed she was as beautiful as the sunset and telling her a few lines of poetry I had heard my mother read to my father a long time ago. She smiled and blushed gently as we walked down the hallway and I was grateful that I was making her feel better about me. Perhaps I wasn't as despicable a person as I—and others—thought that I was.

We reached the gardens and my heart dropped. The entire dinner I had set up had been torn to shreds and the food was thrown into the plants or smashed into the ground. My heart dropped at our evening being ruined. But my entire body stopped responding to any sort of movement or stimuli as I saw the read letters painted on the bench as well as one of the walls.

**WE ARE STILL HERE, PRINCE MAXON. BEWARE.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks for all the reviews and nonstop support! Enjoy chapter 13! I can't believe we have already crossed over 200 reviews! **

**Maxon's POV**

I slammed my fist down on the desk. I knew that the coronation had to continue but I didn't like it. I wanted to show that I would be a better king than my father but now I knew that there were Southern Rebels living within the walls of the palace. Who could I trust? Who was there to trust? I could count on one hand the five people who were working alongside me that could probably be trusted. Scott. Daniele. America. Kriss. And Aspen Leger. I ran my fingers through my hair pushing the paperwork on my desk away. The flutter of words flew up towards the ceiling and then fell down towards the floor. How did this happen? Was this happening before my parents were killed, too? Is that how clever they were? I growled with anger.

Not only was I facing the members of the Council who were still stuck in the ways of the caste, now I had to worry if we were going to be attacked at freewill. I had shown Kriss to her room before coming up to my study and I couldn't be more grateful. But now I wanted her to leave the palace even less. How could I let her walk away when that meant one less person I knew without a doubt that I could trust? I knew Celeste was still here with Daniele but that didn't mean I could trust her here. I didn't know if the Newsomes would be siding with the other higher members of the Council who didn't agree with the news that the Caste System would be done away with and I didn't need them forcing themselves in here to riot if it came down to that. Just a few short weeks ago, my life had so few worries. The biggest thing in my life had been helping America please my father and allow for her to become my queen. Now I was trying to plan my wedding with Kriss, push my plans to end the Caste System, and decide how I was going to weed out the remaining Southern Rebels if that was even possible. Not to mention I was going to have to take a trip to New Asia to end the war and I didn't know what kind of chaos that would bring.

I fell back to my chair, exhausted. Perhaps it would be better if we only had one coronation and waited for Kriss to be crowned at the wedding. After all, she was going to be leaving and wouldn't be performing any of her princess duties for a while. Then Sylvia wouldn't have to panic about the lessons she was missing and my mother could continue her job uninterrupted. Yet, if I didn't act in line with tradition that had the princess crowned shortly after the engagement, which would be seen by the higher Castes as an unforgivable act. I would already piss so many of them off in the years to follow that I wasn't sure if I needed to add to their list of grievances. Especially since Kriss was a Three. I shook my head. Why get married at all if it was going to be this difficult? At least there was a vantage point in marrying her and that was that I could show them that I was bringing someone who had been privileged already to even more privilege in life. I could show them that I wasn't just favoring the lower castes and I needed that. I rubbed my temples. I was a terrible person, trying to find something I could use in marrying Kriss to help push all of my plans forward. But, I reasoned with myself, I did love her and the way that she was so understanding of my short comings and my responsibilities.

I stood up and straightened my tie, stopping by the kitchens and picking up to pieces of strawberry cake. I walked straight to Kriss' room and knocked at the door. Responsibility could wait, at least for now. She came slowly to the door and smiled at me handing her a plate of her own cake. She opened the door more for me and sat down on the sofa with me when I gestured for her to join me. "I'm sorry I had to rush away from our date, my dear. But I have to make sure that everyone here is safe and I didn't know what else to do."

"It's alright Prince Maxon. But do you really think they are still here? I thought the guards had spent the last few weeks sorting through everyone's records and they had all checked out?"

"So did I, Kriss, so did I. Nobody inside these walls would have wrote that message if they hadn't been a Rebel though. I have no choice but to believe that they are still here."

She lightly shuddered. I pulled her closer to me feeding her a bite of her cake. I didn't blame her for being afraid. Several bullets had flown through the air as we made our way to the safe room. Some had almost hit her, almost hit me, and had almost hit several of the other Elite. Even though none of us had been shot, there were people falling down left and right, cries of pain as the bullet registered and finally shouts to void as people died all around us filled the air. There was nothing about the situation that hadn't been traumatizing. I lightly stroked her hair as she tucked her body against mine. What were we going to do? I realized then that I hadn't even told my mother and my heart beat with a skip of panic for the only living parent I had left. Not only did I have to protect all the people who lived here and my fiancée, I had to make sure that nothing happened to my mother. I didn't want to be alone.

"I will make sure everyone is safe again, Kriss. But I am glad that you are going home, I don't want you here when it's so dangerous. I just don't know who I'm going to send home with you, I don't want you getting hurt while you're away from the palace for being engaged to me. Oh God, Kriss. What if they try to hurt you because you are engaged to me! How could you want to be a part of this life? How could your family want this life for you?" The words poured out of me before I could stop them. I didn't pull away from her but I looked up at the ceiling ashamed of what I was subjecting her to—really what I would have been subjecting any of the girls to.

"Maxon, I told you once that I would want you without all of this. I just meant the glamour. Every marriage has their struggles and I'm not going to back down out of fear from ours. Yes, they are a bit more extreme than what other couples go through but I'm here until the end. I gave you my word." She replied softly, pulling my chin down with her fingers to make me look at her. There was promise behind her eyes and certainty that no matter what did happen, at least I wouldn't have to worry about her walking out on me and add pressure to find a new wife. I didn't deserve her in the slightest.

We finished our cake in silence and I closed the distance between us with a small kiss before I left. I walked down the hallways wanting to speak to my mother about this new threat and to tell her to be careful. Unfortunately I knew there was no way around seeing that warning and most of the cleaning staff had already gone to bed for the evening by the time that I had given the call for it to be cleaned up. However, the last thing I expected when I turned the corner to see the words that I had been planning to dart past was America wiping down the words with a large yellow sponge with one of her maids—Mary I think her name was if I was remembering correctly.

"America? What are you doing?" I asked walking up to her. She turned away from what she was doing at looked at me for a moment before going back to scrubbing the wall. "America, what are you doing?" I repeated, still shocked to see her cleaning the wall. It wasn't her responsibility. She didn't have to be doing this and neither did her maid, especially after hours.

"One of the guards found Mary in my room and asked if she wouldn't mind cleaning. She told them she was already off for the evening but I told her that I would help her if she wanted to do it. It's not that big of a deal, Prince Maxon."

I shuttered once again at the use of my title slipping off her tongue. Even when we were just friends, before that night when I kissed her, she was always calling me Maxon. "America, really why are you doing this? You don't have to."

"I know you've been under a lot of pressure lately and that you are going forward with dissolving the Castes. I just wanted to show you that I still knew how to be grateful."

I let out a short chuckle. I couldn't believe the humble words I was hearing from her fiery tongue. This wasn't the typical Lady America Singer that I had known for so long. I picked up another sponge from the bucket and started to help her and Mary scrub the words off the wall. A diplomat and the future king, scrubbing walls together. This was the world that I wanted, one where your position of power of lack thereof didn't dictate that you were better than someone else. Where everyone could be more equal than they were under this absurd system that had existed for so long. She looked over at me as I scrubbed the walls.

"I've missed you, America. I miss your humor and all of your amazing kindness. And I want you to know that things are better between Kriss and me. I'm trying to be a better man," I told her. I didn't expect her to be jealous of me telling her that anymore but I did hope that it would be enough to get her to agree that we could be friends again. "We were such great friends, once. Can't we have that back?" I said, my voice dropping down to a low whisper with every syllable.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Please," I whispered begging and fighting the tears that threatened to fall from the stress I was under. "Can't you see I don't know who to trust anymore? I need all the friends that I can get."

She looked up at the writing and the sponge in her hand. Her teeth lightly nibbled her lip as if she was considering what I had just said. Then her eyes met mine once again and I knew that she had found her answer. "Yes, Maxon, we can be friends again."

**America's POV**

Maxon had escorted me back to my room and I went straight to bed. It was good to have his friendship back once more and not feel as if I was a threat to him or that he hated me. However, I was still afraid how Kriss was going to react to us being friendly to each other once more. I couldn't help but hope that her seeing me being kissed by Scott the night before had helped and that her and Maxon's relationship had become rock solid. Maxon had been right. In these darker times, we didn't know who we could really trust and we needed as many people on our side as we could get. I wondered if she knew about his plans to end the Castes.

I rolled out of bed and put on the green dress that Mary had prepared for me. Today was the day of Maxon's coronation and I had been given a seat at the Royal Table alongside my fellow diplomats and Daniele—who had managed to get Celeste a seat as well. He was starting to introduce her to the basics of laws and I knew that he wanted to convince Maxon to let her be my apprentice so that there were two diplomats to the Illéan government. I was sure that most of the people would be more approving of her than me because she was already a Two and wouldn't need so much education.

We walked down to the Chapel were the ceremony was going to be taking place. Maxon would walk down to the end of the aisle to meet the Archbishop and then the ceremony would begin. The first few rows were filled by the Queen, Kriss, and the diplomats, followed by some of the other allies who had been invited to the ceremony, and a few cameramen stood at the back. Everyone in the room had to have been absolutely trusted by Queen Amberly at least because I knew that Maxon must have been on his tiptoes about the whole situation.

Everyone stood as the music started to play softly and the scripture (Psalm 122, 1-3, 6, 7) was read. The guards at the back opened the doors as Maxon started to walk down the aisle in his father's robes. I wondered if that felt weird for him with the broken relationship that they had had but whatever he was feeling, he hid it well.

I was glad when they said unto me:

We will go into the house of the Lord.

Our feet shall stand in thy gates:

O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is built as a city:

that is at unity in itself.

O pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

they shall prosper that love thee.

Peace be within thy walls:

and plenteousness within thy palaces.

Maxon reached the end and everyone was gestured down to their seats. It was custom that only the highest people of power would remain standing at the front of the room—Maxon and the Archbishop Winchester.

"Sirs, I here present unto you King MAXON, your undoubted King: Wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage and service, are you willing to do the same?"

"Long Live King Maxon!" Everyone shouted in response.

The Archbishop administered the rest of the ceremony as Maxon replied with 'this I will' or other basic terms of agreement that followed in line with tradition as he sat kneeled in front of the other man. The scepter and was relieved of his cloak. He was then gestured to his father's seat as the crown was placed on his head. There was a new sense of maturity around him. I couldn't help but to be proud of him and the king that I knew that he was going to be. I flashed him a small smile and out of an old habit, I tugged my ear. His eyes almost looked as they were fighting not to widen as his whole body became tenser. So he had seen my little signal. Hopefully no one else saw the change in his body language or at least they would only see it as a few last minute gestures. I blinked and in that moment he returned to normal as if he hadn't ever seen me. Perhaps I had imagined the whole thing.

His father's crown was placed on his head before he followed the Archbishop to the front step and everyone in the audience stood once again. "King Maxon," the bishop concluded with a few words in Latin that I didn't quite understand.

And in that moment, the sound of a single gunshot filled the air.


	14. Chapter 14

**For James. I can't believe it'll be six years tomorrow since you passed away. 10/27/1991-07/07/2008. RIP.**

**And to all my wonderful readers, here is your update and thank you for all the reviews. And to those who have favorited my story, I can't believe that I almost have 100 favorites! Also, to the one of you who voted Maxeriss on the poll...I'm curious if you'd step forward and tell me if you were that team in Kiera Cass' story or why you are just that team in mine.**

* * *

**America's POV**

Maxon's body hit the floor, falling forwards, as the Archbishop fell backwards, bleeding from a small bullet hole in his head. Kriss shrieked and several of the guards looked around the room for the source of the shot but none was to be found. I wasn't sure if Maxon had been hit as well until he started to move up from the floor. I caught my breath, more than grateful that he clearly hadn't been the target. But why the Archbishop? He got up off the floor and was immediately holding Kriss as we were all rushed to the Safe Room inside of the church. His eyes found me and seemed to tell me that this was exactly what he had been talking about. The guards should have weeded out such an attack from even being possible. But the crazier thing was that the bullet had only reached one target and no other shots were fired to follow it. My heart was pounding and Scott reached my side, pulling me along when I hadn't even realized that I had stopped moving. Why would there have been just a single target—especially the Archbishop? He wasn't a monarch, he wasn't a diplomat, and he didn't have any control over the Caste System or the other things that the Southern Rebels fought against.

"Come on, America, we have to keep moving," Scott said pushing me towards the opening of the Safe Room as he and the other guards ran out of the church and out to see what was going on outside. Only a few remained inside the church and then the doors were shut. I looked around the room and saw Kriss curled up against Maxon's chest on the sofa. I wanted to talk to him, wanted to hear what he had to say about their only being one victim of the attack. What motive could there possibly have been to kill a single man who didn't have any real power except in the matters of the church? However, I knew that we couldn't do it here and I reached up and once again tugged my ear. This time, he tugged his. So we were going to meet tonight. That helped me to relax a little bit.

I looked over at Queen Amberly, sat at the opposite side of the room. I hadn't talked to her since the engagement and I wondered if she still held the same fondness for me even though I hadn't been her son's One. I slowly crept over to the other side of the room and cleared my throat. "Queen Amberly," I said with a small whisper, bowing slightly.

"You don't need to bow to me, Lady America." She said with a smile and gestured to the seat next to her. I took it, wanting to raise the same questions that I had for Maxon. Had she noticed the difference in this attack?

"Queen Amberly, forgive me if I'm being too bold, but why the Archbishop? Why just one target? This doesn't seem like a normal Southern Rebel attack."

She looked at me and I knew that the question had been out of my limits for what I was allowed to ask—or what I should be asking. However, there wasn't fire or anger in her eyes. I guessed that she had gotten used to me asking and saying things that I wasn't supposed to be or things that I should be knowing at all. She bit her tongue, trying to decide what she wanted to say. I started to get up when she put her hand on my shoulder, almost commanding me to stay put so that she could talk. Nonetheless, several minutes passed by before she answered my question.

"No, it doesn't seem like the South at all. Yet, we know it can't be the North as they are our allies now." She looked up at the ceiling and I saw tears beginning to rise inside of her eyes. I hadn't seen much of her since King Clarkson had been killed and now her only son was king in a world full of endless rising threats. I couldn't help but to wonder how much suffering she must be going through and wishing there was anything at all that I could do to help ease that pain and sorrow. "Clarkson didn't have to deal with this much and I worry about how much Maxon is ready for. Especially after everything that happened here tonight."

I nodded and decided not to mention the warning that I had seen or to continue my questions. I put my hand gently on her shoulder not sure what else to do. She smiled back at me warmly and I was grateful that we still had somewhat of a bond after everything that had transpired. I wondered if Maxon hadn't told her about my prior relationship that had destroyed my chances with her son once and for all. It wasn't like it mattered, though. If King Clarkson had survived the attack and I had bene chosen, he would have found a way to kick me out of the palace. And if he didn't pick me and the former King was still alive, I certainly still wouldn't be here poking my nose in the Royal Family's business or as a diplomat.

"How are you liking your new job?" She asked, trying to bring my attention back to the conversation. She smiled lightly at me her eyes dancing around the room to Maxon and Kriss.

"I appreciate the opportunity to work with Italy. I really liked and bonded with Nicoletta during the Selection and Daniele is also a wonderful friend." I nodded smiling at her. "How is Kriss' princess training coming?"

"She's a perfect princess. Though it seems her coronation will have to be put on hold for a while. I sometimes wish she had a little more fire, though. She's very agreeable and I worry about how she'll hold up Maxon's need for change. I've seen the drafts of his plans to get rid of the Caste System and I wonder how she'll hold up with her own planning. But, she is good for him in other ways, I suppose," she finished smiling softly as she stood up. "Well, it was nice speaking to you again Lady America. Don't feel like you need to be a stranger to me." And with that she walked over to go and check on her only son and I wondered off to go and speak to Daniele and Celeste for the remainder of our time stuck in here.

**Maxon's POV**

When the ban was finally removed from the Safe Room I took Kriss back to her room before going to meet with some of the advisors. Nobody really understood why the Archbishop had been the only target and that only frustrated me more. Nobody really held any grudges against the Religious Head simply because they didn't have any power over the state of the country or how things were ran. They were simply used for church and for certain ceremonies that had always required a religious aspect. Everyone was throwing around useless ideas that didn't get us any closer to the answers that we needed. However, it was decided that Kriss' ceremony would just be a part of the wedding as we no longer had someone to lead over the ceremony and there was a new aspect of fear that the Southern Rebels might try and attack again.

After my meetings that I finally got out of around midnight, I remembered that I was supposed to go and meet America. I walked to her room and decided that I might as well try to acknowledge her even though I figured she might be sleeping. I went to turn the corner to her room and saw Scott walking out, which made me turn against the wall so that he didn't see me. After our previous conversation I didn't know if he would be so happy that America and I were trying to be friends so shortly after everything had gone south. But I was glad that it confirmed she was awake and I wasn't going to be disturbing her. I knocked on the door and waited.

"Hello, Maxon," she said, ushering me in as she turned the lights in her room back on.

"I'm sorry that I took so long," I replied, sitting down on one of the chairs absolutely exhausted. She shrugged her shoulders and sat in front of me.

"Sorry for tugging my ear in the middle of your ceremony. Old habits I guess," she whispered looking down at the floor. I gently laughed at her trying to lighten the mood between us. She smiled up at me and rolled her eyes. "Why the Archbishop, Maxon? Why weren't they aiming for you or someone else who actually has power?"

"I don't know, America. But this was what I was telling you about I don't know who I can trust. It doesn't seem like a Southern Rebel attack but who else is there? Especially who else is there that would want to kill him? He doesn't have any political ties and it's not like murder for personal agenda is a thing like it used to be before there was Illéa."

"That used to be a thing?" She responded, almost like her mind had been blown out of the water.

"Yes but don't go repeating that. It's a history lesson very few get. It's why there are so many guards out and about, just to make sure that things don't ever get too bad." I replied and looked up at the ceiling. "Kriss is going home tomorrow and I couldn't be more grateful. It's not safe for her here and this is no time to be trying to plan a Royal Wedding."

"So it's really happening this year?" Her voice choked out. But why would it bother her so much when she was obviously starting a new relationship herself? Scott was as good as they came and he would treat America well. Perhaps I was making up the sound of her voice in my mind remembering the old times when she would fall apart during the Selection because she had seen me with some other girl. That must be it, I told myself.

"May 12th is the Friday that Kriss wants to have it on. It's a lot to plan especially with all of this popping up. Sometimes I wish I had waited to tell the Council my plans to end the Caste System because I feel like they'll throw it on the back burner because of the wedding." I nodded leaning back against my seat. "So you and Scott then? He's an old friend, very good guy," I whispered, hating every word that I was spitting out. I guess some wounds just don't ever heal.

"It's not what you think, Maxon."

"Sure it isn't." I couldn't believe that I had just said that to her and by the look on her face, neither could she.

"What does it matter if it is or isn't, Maxon? You're going to marry Kriss in four months and I'll have to be there and watch and pretend like I don't want to be more than just your friend. I've been trying to move on like you have, Maxon. I wanted to spend my life with you but instead I'm going to have to watch you grow up and love someone else, have children and a life with someone else. It'll be broadcasted every day and I'm going to have to live with it. If you get to be happy, I think I deserve to be happy, too."

"I know you do America but don't you think it's been hard for me too? You were running around with Aspen Leger the entire time I thought I had finally won you and it broke my heart. And while you'll see my life broadcasted, if you leave your job I won't know what's happening in yours. I won't see who you marry or how many children you have or what they look like. I'm moving on with my life and yes, so are you. But you never forget your first—well technically second for you—love." I bit back the tears at how harsh the words were that were coming out of my mouth. "I'm just grateful to have your friendship back so perhaps we could stop talking about significant others and work on keeping it alive. I can't lose you this is all too much of a mess and I don't know what I'd do with one less person that I know I could trust."

She nodded quietly. "It'll be alright, Maxon. The people will see that you're going to be a great leader and they'll side with you. Whatever this attack was tonight, it's over. We'll all just have to move past it together."

I nodded and leaned in closer to her. It almost felt so natural to be this close to her. I wrapped my arms around her and held her in a tight hug. "You're an amazing friend, America. You always have been and I'm always going to be grateful that you asked to stay so that we could be friends."

"I am too, Maxon." She returned my hug and we just sat there for a moment before I got up. "I'm always going to be here to be your friend, Maxon. I know it's not the kind of love that I used to feel for you but I do still love you. I'm not going to leave your side until you don't need me there any longer and I'll make sure that I can help in whatever ways possible."

"Thank you, Lady America." I said smiling softly as I turned to leave her room. "I'm going to need all the help I can get."


	15. Chapter 15

**America's POV**

It was the morning of Kriss' departure and the conversation I had with Maxon had kept me up all night. I wondered if it had left any effect on him. I laid in bed and picked the sleep out of my eyes wondering if I could call in sick to Daniele for the remainder of the day. I didn't think that he would be particularly fond of the idea of me skipping out on a lesson but I also didn't think he would mind having a free day to be with Celeste for a change. But I wanted to try and talk to him about any ideas he had about why the Archbishop had been killed. I didn't know why I was so obsessed with this problem but I wanted to help Maxon in whatever way I could. I knew that if I could help him find an answer, he would be able to relax more. I groaned at the knock at my door, wondering how it could possibly be later than 8 o'clock already. "Come in," I whispered, pulling my hair back quickly so the mess of bed hair wouldn't be too terrible. In walked Scott with a tray of food before he stopped upon seeing me still in bed.

"I can come in later," he said trying not to dwell upon how awkward the situation was. I couldn't help but shake my head and giggle. It had been much worse when Aspen had walked in on me and Maxon, nearly completely stripped and locked in a lover's embrace as he cuddled me that morning.

"No it's fine, I didn't mean to over sleep." I said climbing out of bed and walking over to the sofa. I smiled at the scent of strawberry tarts and fresh juice. I guess if I had to be awake on such little sleep that I could do with that being the beginning of my day. "Maxon came to talk to me about what happened at his coronation and I couldn't help but shake the things that we were talking about."

"Maxon came in here pretty late." His voice seemed sour but there wasn't much else to go by with his facial expressions. He offered me a plate and started to eat his own. "It was strange what happened though. Probably one of the weirdest attacks I've seen and you probably can't make sense of it without knowing who was in charge of it." I nodded my head as I stuffed my mouth with the strawberry tarts. It wasn't anything I didn't already know and being reminded of it didn't really help me feel better about it. I would have liked to hear a new development or news that would have been helpful to my cause.

"Yeah that's what we were talking about. He said it's been hard planning his wedding as it is but this just made it even worse."

"Kri—Princess Kriss was supposed to be coronated today. So I can understand how it could be harder. At least there's still an official queen to put on postage stamps and in charge of all that business. Would have made some policies and lines of work harder if we had lost the queen and couldn't put a new one in place." He stuttered through as he kept eating his own food. The conversation was a little awkward but I couldn't blame him. We were trying to get to know each other better but I understood why it could be hard when I was still hanging around Maxon. He was my version of Kriss and I just had to show him that we were just friends. I leaned closer to him and lightly put my hand on his.

"I see. Thanks for coming and checking on me last night." I said smiling at him. "And thanks for breakfast I know that I look like I'm a mess."

He shook his head and laughed at me. "You look beautiful America," he returned tucking a stray hair behind my ear. I smiled letting him and blushed lightly at the feeling of his fingers on the back of my neck. I had forgotten how good it felt to have someone touch me gently and lovingly. Our only kiss had been extremely off and a little rushed. He fumbled around his pocket and pulled out a key, putting it gently in the palm of my hand after running his fingers down my arm gently. "I know that you are trying to be Maxon's friend and help him figure out what happened yesterday. This is a master key to some of the more secure rooms in the palace. It'll help you look into whatever answers you need." He said smiling as he finished his breakfast. "As for me I'll have to be on my way and get working before I get into too much trouble. Don't let too many people know you have that key, please." He said kissing my hand as he got up and walked out of the room with the dirty breakfast dishes.

I smiled down at the key and was grateful for the small token of a present that I had been given. With this I would hopefully be able to have a few questions answered. I quickly ran myself a bath and sent Mary with a note to Daniele that our lesson for the day would have to be postponed and to enjoy his date with Celeste. I headed down the hallways and walked throughout them trying to decide where to start or what I was even looking for. There wasn't going to be a flashing sign that pointed me towards the things that I wanted to know as much as I wanted that to be the case—it would simply be far too easy. I stopped for a moment and that was when I decided that I wanted to go and look through King Clarkson's old office. I wasn't sure what I was going to find there but for some reason I felt drawn there. And with this master key, I knew that there wouldn't be any problem getting in there. As I walked the halls I braced myself for the things I might find in that evil man's office.

**Maxon's POV**

I woke up slowly that morning after my discussion with America. The part of me that seemed to have been fighting against all the feelings I had left for her were over. It had just vanished into the night with the words that we had said. I knew I had no right to her future and what she was going to become but I couldn't help but wonder what I was going to do now. She had been such a large chunk of my life for so very long. I rolled out of bed thinking about Kriss. I did love her and I did have feelings of affection for her but I didn't know if that meant I could move on with her the way America did with me from Aspen Leger. I rubbed my temples as I started to get ready for the day. How was I supposed to make Kriss my queen when she was leaving? Maybe I should just let her go and find a wife another way—give myself a real chance to fall in love all over again, not just have the simple feelings of love for another person.

Getting out of bed I roamed the halls, trying to decide how I was going to get through the day. I had to get back to my council meetings after I had breakfast with Kriss and saw her to her car. I didn't want to have to get into another argument with them today about ending the Caste System. The death of the Archbishop wasn't going to help my cause either because the matter proved that the lower castes were only going to continue to fight against us so long as we held any real power over them and there had to be a government in order for the country to survive.

I threw on my best suit as it would be my first meetings as King. I was _King_ now. This was the first moment I had for it to really dawn on me. After all, when I should have been celebrating I was busy keeping everyone quiet and calm in the Safe Room. I walked out into the hall and was greeted by my guards as King Maxon. That sent shivers down my spine. I couldn't help but wonder what my father would think of what that name would sound like together—not that he would have actually let me have any real power or pull any strings. I was meant to be his puppet and that was all I was going to amount to if he had remained alive. It was the first time that I was grateful that he had passed away, regardless of all the pain that my mother was going through. I knew that she was still grieving and would never quite get over him but this was the way things had to be for me to have a chance at ruling my country and making it better off for the long run. The Caste System had been my father's baby so to speak and undoing it would be my greatest accomplishment.

I reached the dining hall and saw Kriss quietly speaking to Scott as he headed out of the room with a tray of food. I wondered if he was off to see America and what was going on between the two of them if they weren't a couple or at least not what they seemed to be in America was being honest with me. He nodded softly at me as he walked out the door. Kriss turned around and smiled at me as she walked over to me. She looked stunning in her silver dress and violet heels. I didn't think that silver could really make a beautiful dress but the way her maids had done it with a little sequence added in had made it absolutely breathtaking.

"Hello, my King," she said with a soft giggle as she leaned in and kissed my cheek. I turned so I stole a soft kiss from her before allowing her to pull away softly.

"Good morning, Lady Kriss. Shall we have some breakfast before you head off?" She nodded and I pulled out her chair. We settled for chocolate chip muffins, some eggs, and a little bit of juice. There wasn't much conversation between us but we simply held each other's hands, enjoying being sat together in our perfect, private little moment. I wondered if our mornings when we were married would be this dull. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, I'm all packed and my maids were going to load up the car before I went home."

I nodded. "Are you sure that you want to go?" I muttered quietly to myself.

"I'm going to go do some preparation for our wedding, Maxon. It'll be safer if I do it out of the palace rather than doing it here. I'll come back when it gets closer so we can agree on the color scheme and the cake, of course. I just think it'll be best if I'm out of the way for a while and can recover from all these attacks. I still wake up having nightmares. The other night, I even dreamt that Celeste had been shot and killed to start the attack and that terrified me. And I never even really liked her. I don't want to be on the verge of falling apart every time I have a nightmare. I need some time to rest and recover from all of this, but I'll get better if I can just have a break for a little bit. Please don't think lesser of me because I need to get away."

I kissed her hand. "I could never think lesser of you, Lady Kriss. I can understand perfectly why you would need a break from all of this. If I could go with you, I would."

After breakfast I walked her down to her car. I had decided after our short conversation that Scott could be spared to take her home and stay for at least a week to make sure that she was going to be safe. I knew that he was one of the few guards that I could actually trust and one of the only ones who was going to be willing to go. Aspen Leger was still undergoing physical therapy while he waited for his wedding day otherwise I would probably try and send him. He was the reason that we had survived that day and we needed to keep physically able guards at the palace but it would just have to be alright for one week. After that I would find someone else to take his place and have him brought back to the palace so that I could keep my strength in numbers.

I kissed Kriss' temple as she loaded in the car. I thanked Scott as he carried his bags into the back and got into the front seat. "Don't worry, Max. I'll keep her and her family safe while I'm out there. I promise you won't be left without a queen." I nodded and thanked him once again hoping that we would be able to remove any of the bad blood that remained between us.

**America's POV**

I shifted through a few of the drawers in King Clarkson's former study. I wasn't too food on the things that I was finding. Little notes about things that Maxon had been doing wrong, notes about how disappointed he was that Maxon had allowed for me to find out so much, and of course, the whip that had been used countless times on his own son, stained with a few streaks of blood on it and in that drawer. It was enough to make me more than sick to my stomach and realize that I probably wasn't going to find something in here that would help me solve the problem of why the Archbishop had been killed. I got up from kneeling on the floor in front of the desk to head towards the door. That was when I heard voice coming towards the room and began to panic briefly. I turned quickly and dove into the wardrobe in the corner of the room. I peaked quietly out of the small crack in the doors, trying to get a look at the men entering the room from behind the coats that Clarkson had left in the closet.

"It's not like the king ever trusted his son to take over," one of the men laughed. "He should have been as good as dead like his father was that day but he managed to escape, unfortunately. The Archbishop couldn't do the job we assigned him to or else it would all be over now."

"It's a shame the real Archbishop had to be killed off before we could even begin the ceremony," the other laughed back. "People need to learn to cooperate with us. After all, if we don't take over after King Maxon is killed, the world around them will just descend into anarchy."

I stood back and couldn't believe what I was hearing. The real Archbishop had been killed before the ceremony had even begun. I tried to get a better look of them so that I could identify them and help Maxon get them locked up and questioned but from my location it was absolutely impossible. I leaned back and kept listening. So they had gone as far as to dress up another man as the Archbishop and try and get him to kill Maxon during the coronation. I couldn't believe that the Southern Rebels would go that far. And they were still in the palace and there was no way to know who these people were because I couldn't see them and I was pretty sure that the security camera in the room had been turned off after King Clarkson's assassination. I felt absolutely useless with the information that they were handing me. I heard drawers being flung open and things being scattered across the floor. I retreated further in the wardrobe so they wouldn't be able to find me in here as things got thrown closer to the doors. Luckily, they didn't come in and try to look in here before they disappeared from the room.


End file.
